Plan your visit to Hadrian's Wall with North East Escapes. Walk the Roman frontier from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway and find nearby holiday homes. |
Visit Hadrian's Wall, Rome's Frontier at the Edge of the Known World
Hadrian's Wall is one of the greatest monuments of the Roman Empire and one of the most ambitious building projects in British history, a 73-mile stone wall stretching coast to coast across the neck of England from Wallsend on the Tyne to Bowness-on-Solway on the Solway Firth. Built on the orders of Emperor Hadrian following his visit to Britain in 122 AD, the Wall defined the northern frontier of the Roman world for nearly three centuries. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, part of the transnational Frontiers of the Roman Empire designation, and the most visited and best-understood stretch of Roman frontier anywhere on earth.
Construction of the Wall began around 122 AD and was substantially complete within a decade, an astonishing feat of military engineering. The Wall originally stood perhaps four to five metres high and was fronted by a deep ditch to the north and by a second earthwork, the Vallum, to the south. At approximately every Roman mile stood a small fortlet known as a milecastle, and between each pair of milecastles stood two observation turrets, giving a total of around 80 milecastles and 160 turrets along the Wall's length. Sixteen larger forts were built directly onto the Wall, including Housesteads, Chesters, Vindolanda and Birdoswald, each capable of housing a regiment of auxiliary soldiers drawn from across the empire.
The best-preserved and most dramatic section of the Wall runs through central Northumberland along the Whin Sill, the dramatic ridge of volcanic rock that gives this section its breathtaking scenery. The villages of Haltwhistle and Hexham make excellent bases for exploring this central section, with Housesteads, Vindolanda, Chesters Fort (with its outstanding museum), Birdoswald and the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran all within easy reach. The Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail runs the full 73-mile length of the Wall from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway and can be walked in sections or end to end over approximately seven days. The Sycamore Gap location, made famous by the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, remains one of the most visited points on the Wall despite the loss of the iconic tree in 2023.
The Wall runs across Northumberland and Cumbria, broadly following the B6318 Military Road in its central section. Housesteads Roman Fort (NE47 6NN), Vindolanda (NE47 7JN) and Chesters Roman Fort (NE46 4EU) are the principal managed sites. The AD122 bus service runs seasonally along the Wall corridor connecting the main sites. The nearest mainline railway stations to the central section are Haltwhistle and Hexham on the Newcastle to Carlisle line. Guides, maps and walking itineraries are available from the Hadrian's Wall Country website and the Once Brewed National Park Visitor Centre.
North East Escapes offers a fine selection of holiday homes in the Hadrian's Wall corridor, from the South Tyne Valley to the Allen valleys and the Northumberland uplands. Staying on the Wall puts you in the heart of one of England's most special landscapes, with outstanding walking, Roman archaeology and the spectacular dark skies of the Northumberland National Park on your doorstep. Our Hadrian's Wall holiday homes are perfect for walkers, history lovers, stargazers and anyone seeking a genuinely immersive North of England experience.
