Roman Britain - Hadrian's Wall

1. Emperor Hadrian visited Britain in AD 122.

2. He ordered that a wall should be built between the Solway Firth and the River Tyne.

3. Hadrian’s Wall was built to provide a defensive barrier that guarded the northern frontier from barbarian invaders.

4. Hadrian’s Wall controlled the movement of people coming into, or leaving Roman Britain.

5. The wall was built by Roman soldiers so that they would keep fit and busy when not fighting.

6. The majority of Hadrian’s Wall was built of stone, but some sections were made of turf.

7. It took six years to build Hadrian’s wall.

8. The wall was eighty (Roman) miles long, six metres high and three metres wide with a walkway on top.

9. On north side of the wall, there was a deep, wide ditch and on the south a smaller ditch and a military road.

10. Milecastles were placed at regular intervals along Hadrian’s Wall, so named as they were built every Roman mile.

11. Each pair of milecastles had two turrets between them.

12. Milecastles could garrison between eight and thirty-two men.

13. Turrets were about nine metres high.

14. They provided observation points and shelter for Roman soldiers on duty patrolling the wall.

15. The turrets had two storeys, one for cooking and one for sleeping.

16. As it developed, more Roman legionaries moved up to the wall and large forts were built.

17. The forts had large gates, with stone towers on either side, to allow traffic to pass through.

18. There were seventeen forts along Hadrian’s Wall, each housing between five hundred and one thousand men.

19. The forts included the headquarters, barracks, a commander’s house, granaries, hospital and toilets.

20. Roman soldiers garrisoned on the wall came from all across the Empire.

21. Small towns grew up around the forts.

22. Hadrian’s Wall was occupied for three centuries and was home to thousands of men, women and children.

23. Hadrian’s Wall was an impressive monument to Roman occupation of Britain.