Who built Hadrian's Wall?
In AD 122, Emperor Hadrian ordered a mighty wall to be built. It marked the most northwest frontier of his empire and the edge of the civilised world (according to the Romans). But it was more than just a barrier. Hadrian's Wall was also a home for soldiers, traders, craftspeople and families from Britain, Europe and North Africa.
Scroll down this page to take a closer look at the wall and its builders.
Hail Hadrian!
Emperor Hadrian came to Britain in AD122. When he saw how much trouble his soldiers were having in the north, he ordered his men to build a huge wall to defend themselves and the lands they’d spent so long taking in Britain. Hadrian’s Wall took around 15,000 men about six years to build. The emperor never returned to Britain and so never got to see his soldiers’ achievement in all its glory.
1. Hadrian’s Wall?
Emperor Hadrian ordered the Wall to be constructed, but the Roman army actually did all the hard work building it. The soldiers’ skills were put to the test by the landscape of northern Britain as the Wall ran straight over some pretty steep hills!
2. Getting ready
There was a huge amount to do even before the building work started. Some soldiers had to work out the best route for the Wall as it ran from one side of Britain to the other! Others cleared obstructions such as trees, built camps and moved food and materials.
3. Making the wall
First, the soldiers dug a shallow trench and placed large stones in it to create a base. Then they laid rectangular stones in rows stuck together with mortar to make the front and rear faces. Between them, a core was made of smaller stones and mortar. The builders were careful to keep the wall straight and level so it was strong and stable.
4. High and mighty
The Wall was designed to be about 5 meters tall. Once the lower rows of stone were complete, the builders needed to stand on scaffolding to complete the top. A small pulley system could have been used to lift the heavy facing and top stones.
5. Where did the stones come from?
Hadrian’s Wall was built from sandstone and limestone. The Romans quarried the stone from close to where the Wall was built to make it easier to transport. Originally, the western end of the Wall was built from turf cut from fields next to the Wall.
6. Making their mark
The soldiers worked in groups of about 80 men called Centuries. Once they had completed a short section of the Wall, they recorded their achievement on one of the Wall’s stones. This inscription listed which century they belonged to and the person in charge. Lots of these stones were found and some are now kept at Chesters Roman Fort.
A century stone, now displayed at Chesters Roman Fort
A century stone, now displayed at Chesters Roman Fort
7. More than just a wall
Hadrian’s Wall was not just a wall! There were other defences that ran next to it as well. To the north, a very deep ditch ran parallel to the Wall along most of its route. In important places, sharpened branches, called cippi, were laid closely together between the ditch and Wall to put off anyone approaching.
It was also a place to live. The Wall included around 250 army bases of different types. At every mile there was a milecastle, where soldiers guarded a gate through the wall, and there were tall turrets at regular intervals to keep watch. There were also 15 large forts where garrisons of up to 1,000 soldiers lived.
Picturing the past
Nearly 2000 years after Hadrian's Wall was built, parts of it are still standing. While we can't see how the finished wall would have looked to the Romans who were stationed along it, we can look for clues in the landscape. Ruins and artefacts found nearby can help archaeologists to build up a picture of what was there in the past. Here are seven key features found along the wall.
1. Towns
Alongside the big forts on Hadrian's Wall like Chesters, small civilian villages and towns called vici appeared. Roman soldiers had a lot more money to spend than local people, so civilians built shops in the towns to sell goods to the troops.
2. Milecastles
These were small forts built every mile along the wall. Milecastles had gates so that people could pass from one side of the wall to the other, if they were brave enough! You can still see remains of these at Poltross Burn (pictured) and Cawfields.
3. Turrets
There were two turrets in between each milecastle. They provided shelter and a place to warm up for a just couple of Roman soldiers. Turrets like the ones at Birdoswald (pictured) could have been the loneliest places to be on Hadrian’s Wall.
4. Bridges
The wall stretched across the north of England from one coast to the other over the land, but what about rivers? Patrols and supplies needed to get across. Luckily the Romans were expert architects. They built bridges like the one at Chesters over rivers to keep the Wall as one solid, unbroken barrier.
5. Forts
Large forts, like Chesters and Housesteads (pictured), were built after construction of the wall had already started. They housed large garrisons of men who patrolled the wall and were ready in case of an attack. All of the forts, milecastles and turrets were linked by a military road.
6. Vallum
As well as watching enemies north of the wall, the Romans also needed to make sure they were safe from the south. The vallum was an earth mound and ditch behind the wall that marked an area that local Britons weren’t allowed into. Stone bridges like the one at Benwell were built to cross over the vallum.
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