HADRIAN'S WALL is the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain. It is the best known frontier in the entire Roman Empire and stands as a reminder of past glories of one of the world's greatest civilisations. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1987, Hadrian's Wall ranks alongside the Taj Mahal and other treasures of the great wonders of the world.

Spanning nearly 2,000 years of history, dramatic and wild landscapes, towns and cities, a visit to Hadrian's Wall is a must for anyone living in or visiting the North of England. Forts, museums and events bring Roman history to life, walks lead you through spectacular countryside. Time spent exploring this unique Roman heritage in its ever changing setting will leave you with an unparalleled sense of awe and wonder.

WHO BUILT THE WALL AND WHY?

The Wall was built by order of the Emperor Hadrian, probably given during his visit to Britain in AD 122.Over the next six years professional soldiers, legionaries, built a wall 80 Roman miles long (117km or 73 modern miles), from Wallsend-on-Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west. As with most building work, modifications carried on long after this.

WHY BUILD A WALL?

A Roman biographer of Hadrian states that the Wall was built "to separate the Romans from the Barbarians" (NB not the Picts and the Scots - they arrived later!) There are many theories about why the Wall was built but it is generally agreed that Hadrian wanted to mark the northern  boundary of his Empire. Expansion further north came later when from AD 140 to 163 Hadrian's Wall was briefly replaced by the Antonine Wall. The frontier soon moved south again, back to Hadrian's Wall. Interestingly, there is little evidence of major conflict on Hadrian's Wall.

WHAT WAS BUILT?

Work started in the east on a stone wall, some 5 metres (15 feet) high, perhaps with a parapet. This ran as far as the River Irthing near Gilsland. Further west, the Wall was built of turf at first. Later this stretch too was built in stone.

The Wall was a sophisticated piece of engineering. Every Roman mile there was a milecastle guarded by at least eight men. Between milecastles were two equidistant turrets where sentries kept watch. Thus a close check could be made on the movement of goods, people and animals crossing the frontier. During building, control was strengthened by the construction of large forts along the Wall. These and other supply forts to the south housed auxiliary soldiers, many from Belgium, Germany and former Yugoslavia. The forts also served as crossing points of the Wall. Around them grew civilian settlements.

To the north of the Wall was a deep defensive ditch and to the south another ditch, the Vallum, flanked by mounds of earth. The Vallum, with crossing places at forts, was the Roman equivalent of the barbed-wire fence controlling civilian movement into modern military sites.

West of Bowness a chain of fortlets and towers ran down the Cumbrian coast to complete the impressive "Edge of Empire".

Benwell, in the western subburbs of Newcastle upon Tyne was the site of a fort on Hadrian's Wall called CONDERCUM but the later name of Benwell is of Anglo Saxon origin deriving from Beonnam-Wall meaning a place within the wall Today most of what remains of the fort at Benwell is largely burried beneath modern housing, but the defensive Roman ditch called the `Vallum' can still be clearly be seen along with the nearby ruins of a Roman temple dedicated to a local god called Antenociticus.

From Benwell the Roman wall continued east, towards the fort near the river at Newcastle called Pons Aelius. Between Benwell and Newcastle City Centre Hadrian's Wall more or less ran along the course of what is now the Westgate Road. This road is built along the site of a Roman defensive ditch situated just north of Hadrian's Wall.

In Roman times the fort of Pons Aelius at Newcastle was probably not as important as that at Benwell, although it had a significant role in guarding a Roman bridge accross the Tyne. Pons was the Latin word for Bridge, so Pons Aelius was the name of both the the fort and the bridge at Newcastle. In fact Pons Aelius can be translated to mean `the Bridge of Hadrian' , as Aelius, was the family name of the Emperor who gave his name to the Roman Wall.

The Roman bridge at Newcastle was built of timber on stone piers and may have continued in use for many centuries.  Records suggest that the bridge may still have stood in Norman times and if this is so then it was not finally destroyed until 1248 during a raging fire. It is highly liklely that a medieval bridge which replaced this burned structure still utilised the Roman foundations.

Initially the Roman bridge and fort at Newcastle formed the eastern terminus of Hadrian's Wall but later the wall was extended three miles further to the east where a fort called Segedunum was built at what we now know as Wallsend.

WHAT HAPPENED NEXT?

By the early 400s, the Empire was in decline and Britain became cut off from Rome. Frontier defences were neglected and as pay ceased to arrive, soldiers drifted away. Settlement patterns changed. Border skirmishes continued, the Wall's stones reappeared in local farm houses, field  walls and even churches. It was only relatively recently that interest in the Wall as an archaeological monument, and as a place to visit, grew. The Hadrian's Wall and forts we see today are all the more precious for being the last remains of such an incredible Roman structure.

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