Location : Gilsland / Brampton / Walton / Carlisle / Burgh by Sands / Port Carlisle / Bowness-on-Solway

Places to Stay :

Hadrian's Wall between Gilsland and Birdoswald.

Hadrian's Wall is the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain. It stretches seventy-three miles from Wallsend near Newcastle, across the neck of England to Bowness-on-Solway in North West Cumbria, and stands today as a reminder of the past glories of one of the world's greatest empires.

It was built in the 120's AD and because it was not an impenetrable barrier, forts were built at seven mile intervals, milecastles (small guard posts) were built at one mile intervals, and two turrets (towers) were placed between each pair of milecastles, for observation. In front of the wall lay a ditch, except where the crags made it unneccessary. The wall crossed three rivers, and bridges were built.

Place to see remains of the wall and its structures within Cumbria are :

• Gilsland - Milecastle 48
• Birdoswald Fort
• Willowford Bridge
• Banks Turrets 51B and 52A
• Pike Hill Signal Tower

The rest of the Wall is in Northumbria. Nothing East of Banks Turret exists today. The system of milecastles and turrets continued down the Cumbrian coast for another 26 miles to Maryport, though no wall was built here. There are excellent remains of a mileforlet at Crosscanonby, just north of maryport.

• Some aerial pictures of Hadrian's Wall - by Simon Ledingham
• Walking the Hadrian's Wall Path - with Peter & Jeanne Donaghy, and John & Gillian Laidler
• Walking the Hadrian's Wall Path - with Suzanne Worthington and the BBC Radio Cumbria team
• Hadrian's Cycleway - a Coast to Coast "The Roman Way" cycle route

Hadrian's Wall Path

In May 2003, the Hadrian's Wall Path was opened as one of the 'National Trails'. It is an unbroken 84 mile signposted trail from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway. The trail, with 43 short walks, is suitable for people of all ages, with opportunities for the less able to access many parts of the wall. Various leaflets, including accommodation guides, and an official Trail Guide have been published. There is an official trail website.

Related Links :

• Wikipedia - Hadrian's wall

• Open Directory - Hadrian's Wall Path

• The Official National Trail Guide - 'Hadrian's Wall Path' by Anthony Burton, published 2003, describes the entire route, with Ordnance Survey maps, photos, and details of the major archaeological sites.

• Self catering along Hadrians Wall and into Northumberland. Northumbria byways offers advice and guidance on holiday rentals.

• 'The Great Wall of Britain - A Walk Along Hadrian's Wall' by Anton Hodge, takes you on a geographical and historical tour of the Roman Wall from the Tyne to the Solway. To find out more see www.antonhodge.co.uk, and the Hayloft website.

• Hunter Davies has written the book A Walk Along the Wall, part travel, part archaeology, part sociology and all of it his own personal experience of spending a year studying and walking Hadrian's Wall.

• There are visitor centres with gift shops at the major fort sites (in Northumbria) : Housesteads, Chesters and Corebridge, which are managed by English Heritage. Each publishes its own guide book.

• The video 'Edge of Empire' from Striding Edge co-produced with the Ordnance Survey, is a fascinating journey along the 73 miles of the Roman Wall World Heritage Site, Eric Robson unravels some of the mysteries of 2500 years of history.

Places to Stay :

Go to Menu :

• North Cumbria Index
• Romans in Cumbria
• Trails
• English Heritage