Hadrian’s Wall, from AD 43 to today
How a frontier at the edge of the empire was built, moved, came back, was robbed for stone, and became a World Heritage Site.
Before the Wall
The Roman conquest of Britain began in AD 43. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall Before the Wall, the Romans had a road called the Stanegate between Corbridge and Carlisle, with forts along it. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall
Vindolanda, just south of the Wall, was first built in timber in about AD 85, almost 40 years before the Wall. The Vindolanda Trust: Why is Vindolanda to the south of Hadrian’s Wall?
The Brigantes of northern Britain became close allies of Rome; their queen Cartimandua helped the Romans against rebellious tribes. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall, History and Stories
Hadrian
Hadrian was born in Rome in AD 76 and became emperor in AD 117, succeeding Trajan. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs Hadrian was emperor from AD 117 until AD 138. His family was Spanish, and he spent his reign travelling his empire. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall, History and Stories
Hadrian’s Wall was built on the orders of the emperor Hadrian after his visit to Britain in AD 122. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall Hadrian’s biographer recorded that he ordered his army to “build a wall, 80 miles long, to separate the Romans from the barbarians”. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs
English Heritage says Hadrian wanted to bring order to the frontier and reduce raids by Caledonian tribes to the north; the Wall let the Romans control movement across the border. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs
Building it
Building probably began in AD 122 and took at least six years. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs The Wall was built almost entirely by soldiers of Britain’s three legions: the Second (Caerleon), the Sixth (York) and the Twentieth (Chester). English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs
Each legion had architect-engineers, surveyors, masons, carpenters and glaziers. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs The legions were helped by auxiliary soldiers and by the British fleet. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall
Inscriptions suggest Castle Nick (milecastle 39) was probably built by the Sixth Legion. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall
The first plan was a wall fronted by a wide, deep ditch, with a guarded gate (milecastle) every mile and two turrets in between. English Heritage: Description of Hadrian’s Wall Before the work was finished, 14 new forts were added, together with an earthwork to the south called the Vallum. English Heritage: Description of Hadrian’s Wall
What did the Romans call it?
The Ilam pan, a 2nd-century souvenir of the Wall found in 2003, suggests the Romans may have called the frontier “vallum Aelii”, Aelius being Hadrian’s family name. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall
North to the Antonine Wall, and back
Hadrian died in AD 138. His successor Antoninus Pius moved the frontier north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus and built a new wall of turf, the Antonine Wall, which had a short life of about 20 years. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall The Antonine Wall was begun in around AD 143 between the Firths of Forth and Clyde; it was abandoned, and Hadrian’s Wall reoccupied, in around AD 160. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs
UNESCO says the Antonine Wall, about 60 km long, was started by the emperor Antoninus Pius in AD 142. UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Frontiers of the Roman Empire (list 430)
Sources disagree about whether Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned in those years. More on when sources disagree.
War, change and the end of Roman rule
A major war took place shortly after AD 180, when tribes crossed the Wall and killed a general and his troops. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall
Ordinary soldiers could not legally marry until AD 197, though many married unofficially before that. English Heritage blog: The Role of Women on Hadrian’s Wall (2016)
The latest coins found on the Wall were minted in AD 403–6. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall
Birdoswald was still lived in after Roman rule ended: timber halls were built on the site of the granaries. English Heritage: History of Birdoswald Roman Fort
Stone robbers and saviours
In about AD 675 Saxon builders took stone from the Roman bridge at Chesters for the church at Hexham. English Heritage: History of Chesters Roman Fort In later centuries the Wall became a quarry for stone to build castles, churches, farms and houses, until conservation in the 18th and 19th centuries stopped it. English Heritage: History of Hadrian’s Wall
In the 16th century the antiquary William Camden avoided Housesteads for fear of the “ranke robbers thereabouts”. English Heritage: History of Housesteads Roman Fort
John Clayton (1792–1890) excavated at Chesters from 1843 and bought up stretches of the central Wall, saving them from stone robbers. English Heritage: Significance of Chesters Roman Fort Chesters’ site museum opened in 1896 to house John Clayton’s collection. English Heritage: History of Chesters Roman Fort
World Heritage
Hadrian’s Wall became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs Since 2005 it has been part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site. North East Museums: Segedunum, the fort site (teacher notes)
UNESCO says the Roman frontier at its 2nd-century greatest extent stretched over 5,000 km, from the Atlantic coast of northern Britain to the Black Sea, the Red Sea and across North Africa. UNESCO World Heritage Centre: Frontiers of the Roman Empire (list 430) In 2022 English Heritage marked 1,900 years of Hadrian’s Wall. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs
For nearly 300 years the Wall was the north-west frontier of an empire that stretched to present-day Iraq and the Sahara. English Heritage: Hadrian’s Wall FAQs
Next: how the Wall worked →