Description of Hadrian’s Wall

As first planned, the Wall consisted of a wall of stone or turf fronted by a wide and deep ditch. The original plan was for a guarded gate (milecastle) every mile, with two observation towers (turrets) in between. Before work was completed, 14 new forts were added, together with an earthwork known as the Vallum to the south.

Hadrian’s Wall at Walltown Crags under snow

WHAT SURVIVES

The surviving remains of Hadrian’s Wall consist not just of the Wall itself, but a variety of associated elements:

forts and civil settlements
milecastles and turrets
towers
bridges
temples
the ditch with an upcast mound to the north
the forts, milefortlets and towers of the Cumbrian coast
the Vallum earthwork with its causeways and crossings
the road known as the Military Way along the Wall and the Stanegate to the south
earlier and contemporary forts along the Stanegate.

All these sit within a wide contemporary Roman military landscape containing at least five forts to the north and many as far south as the legionary bases at York and Chester, and indeed beyond.

WHERE TO SEE IT

Follow the links for details of English Heritage sites. Sites are listed from west to east.

The Wall Itself

The Wall itself survives mainly in the central sector from Black Carts turret (T29a) to Banks East turret (T52a), including the stretches maintained by English Heritage at:

Further east there are stretches of Wall at Heddon and Planetrees.

View across one of the granaries at Housesteads Roman Fort — View looking east across one of the granaries at Housesteads Roman Fort

Forts

Maryport (earthworks only)
Birdoswald
Carvoran
Great Chesters
Vindolanda
Housesteads
Carrawburgh (earthworks only)
Chesters
Newcastle
Wallsend
South Shields

Milecastles

Part or all of nine milecastles, and one milefortlet on the Cumbrian coast, are visible (others survive as earthworks). They are numbered from east to west.