Northumberland National Park — Attraction in Corsenside

Hadrian's Wall (Latin: Vallum Aelium), also called the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or Vallum Hadriani in Latin, was a defensive fortification in the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the emperor Hadrian.1]It ran from the banks of the River Tyne near the North Sea to the Solway Firth on the Irish Sea, and was the northern limit of the Roman Empire, immediately north of which were the lands of the northern Ancient Britons, including the Picts.

It had a stone base and a stone wall. There were milecastles with two turrets in between. There was a fort about every five Roman miles. From north to south, the wall comprised a ditch, wall, military way and vallum, another ditch with adjoining mounds. It is thought the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry. In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts.[2]

A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be followed on foot along the adjoining Hadrian's Wall Path. The largest Roman archaeological feature anywhere, it runs a total of 73 miles (117.5 kilometres) in northern England.[3] Regarded as a British cultural icon, Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient tourist attractions.[4] It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Sitein 1987.[5] In comparison, the Antonine wall, thought by some to be based on Hadrian's wall (the Gillam hypothesis),[6] was not declared a World Heritage site until 2008.[7

It is a common misconception that Hadrian's Wall marks the boundary between England and Scotland. In fact Hadrian's Wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the Anglo-Scottish border.[9] While it is less than 0.6 mi (1.0 km) south of the border with Scotland in the west at Bowness-on-Solway, in the east it is as much as 68 miles (109 km) away.

Hadrian's Wall was probably planned before Hadrian's visit to Britain in AD 122. According to restored sandstone fragments found in Jarrow which date from 118 or 119, it was Hadrian's wish to keep "intact the empire", which had been imposed on him via "divine instruction".[13]

Although Hadrian's biographer wrote "[Hadrian] was the first to build a wall 80 miles long to separate the Romans from the barbarians", reasons for the construction of the wall vary, and no recording of an exact explanation survives.[14] Theories have been presented by historians, mostly of an expression of Roman power and Hadrian's policy of defence before expansion. On his accession to the throne in 117, there was unrest and rebellion in Roman Britain and from the peoples of various conquered lands across the Empire, including Egypt, Judea, Libya and Mauritania.[13]

These troubles may have influenced Hadrian's plan to construct the wall as well as his construction of limites in other areas of the Empire, but to what extent is unknown. Scholars disagree over how much of a threat the inhabitants of northern Britain really presented and whether there was any economic advantage in defending and garrisoning a fixed line of defences like the Wall, rather than conquering and annexing what has become the Scottish Lowlands and defending the territory with a loose arrangement of forts.[13]

The limites of Rome were never expected to stop tribes from migrating or armies from invading, and while a frontier protected by a palisade or stone wall would help curb cattle-raiders and the incursions of other small groups,[15] the economic viability of constructing and keeping guarded a wall 72 miles (116 km) long along a sparsely populated border to stop small-scale raiding is dubious.[13]

Another possible explanation for the wall is the degree of control it would have provided over immigration, smuggling and customs.[13]Limites did not strictly mark the boundaries of the empire: Roman power and influence often extended...

Absolutely amazing!!! Such a sense of space - so much sky to see and quiet roads to cycle on. We stayed near Hadrians Wall, which truly lives up to a world heritage site designation. The engineering of the wall is incredible, it must have been awe inspiring when it was in use. The cycling routes are really good and keep you on less busy roads. Kielder Water is magnificent, it's huge! You felt like it would never end! The observatory was fascinating. The local Kielder cheese is delicious! Try some if you're in the area. And how could I not mention the sky at night? Such expanses of dark skies filled with myriad stars - a truly eye mazing scene! Seeing constellations that you don't normally see because of the light pollution, the milky-way, shooting stars.... It makes you pall into insignificance just looking at the sky. Wonderful to behold and reconnects you with the seasonal cycles. Everything was well signposted wherever we went in Northumberland,from small roads to big ones. The folk are friendly and I love the accent! There is so much history to take in and culture as well. A trip on the ferry from Tynemouth to South Shields was smashing followed by fish and chips. The local beers were excellent, we tried plenty - cycling works up a thirst! The smaller population in Northumberland makes the land seem bigger, the terrain is more spread out. It is so beautiful, so many photos taken. I can't wait to...

This is a stunning area... however if you like to cycle off road on public bridleways then you maybe frustrated. OS maps routes were often blocked. Many landowners stop your access by locking gates.... farm vehicles left in front of access area... tyre walls in the way... or signs completely removed. Also encountered intimidating farmers...one chased us on a quad to tell us we couldn't have access.... even though we were on a signed bridleway that led to two further bridleways and a footpath. We probably won't revisit the area for holidays again.... I can look at the scenery from photos on line... but would prefer to be able to get in it... rather than view from my window.... currently that's difficult by mtb. Some organisation needs to stand up for our public rights of way before they are all completley eroded and lost altogether... clearly that's not Northumbria National parks... or the local authorities...or OS. Who owns the land ? Is it the national? Or private land owners. Do we give them permission to access our public rights of way... or they give us permission to access their land.... who has priority. Looks like at the moment landowners can get away with doing whatever they want without any authority making them...