Idle Thoughts of a Retired Dominie: Hadrian's Wall Revisited

I have posted previously about this amazing feat of engineering. But one cannot fail to be impressed whenever the Wall is seen.

The Wall is over 70 miles in length. It was made of squared stones, was almost 10 feet wide and height ranged from 16 to 20 feet. It was an impressive piece of work, and to those who wished to challenge it would have been a terrifying thought.
Of course it was not only the wall,but the the ditches that had been constructed in front of it, the dead straight road which ran along behind it, and the forts, both large and small to be found at regular intervals along the Wall.

To stand on the wall and see it stretch into the distance, climbing hills and descending into steep gorges always amazes. No wonder it is world heritage site.

After almost 1800 years it still stands. Not to its original dimensions. After the Romans withdrew, it became a quarry for home builders. And farming destroyed sections of it too. Only around the late 1800's did protection begin to safeguard this historic site.

The Wall marked the edge of the Western edge of the Roman Empire. Scotland was never occupied like other territories and was not considered a part of the Empire.
The wall would keep out those from the North.
There was nevertheless a Roman presence in Scotland. There were forts, bath houses, and the easily identifiable long straight roads.
There was also a Wall. The Antonine Wall. Not made of stone, but of earth. It runs right across Scotland from the Clyde on the west coast to Edinburgh on the East Coast.

But Scotland was not rich in natural resources that were of interest to the Romans. So there was little point in expending valuable resources on the rugged Scottish land.

The ruins of the Forts which lie along the Wall make it easy to appreciate the power of this Army.
Housesteads and Birdoswald are fascinating places to visit.

The National Trust and English Heritage manage some of these sites, and Vindolanda is a privately owned museum. There are others too.
In summer, the sites are busy and many walkers like to hike along the Wall.
In winter, some of the sites are closed, but it is equally fascinating to visit in winter, and imagine how these foreign soldiers would have felt about cold Britain.
There are links here to a few of the web sites about Hadrian's Wall.

My photos sadly do not do justice to the Wall. You will have to come and see it yourself to really appreciate the scale of this monument to the Power of the Roman Army.

http://www.hadrians-wall.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian's_Wall
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/hadrians-wall/
http://www.vindolanda.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/hadrian_gallery.shtml