Natural Eden Images Nature Photography by Stephen James Thompson
Natural Eden Images Nature Photography by Stephen James Thompson
Hadrians wall at the end of the mighty Roman Empire


Built in AD 122 Hadrian's wall marked the boundary of the mighty Roman Empire.Hadrian started the building of the wall half a century after Agricola had established the Antonine wall which was sited some eighty miles north west on the clyde-forth line.Hadrian's wall spans 73 miles from Wallsend in Newcastle to Bowness on Solway in the west, after crossing the River Eden.The wall originally stood around 22ft tall, and had a thickness of some 8ft.Holding sixteen forts along its length, that each could comprise 500-800 soldiers, making the wall a formidable structure.In addition to these forts there were milecastles which stood every Roman mile along the wall.In total there was eighty of these milecastles, with a further 158 turrets.When completed in AD128 Hadrian's masterpeice would have been awe inspiring, set against the rugged, wild, windswept moors that we see today.It is beleived that the wall served as a defensive system for only 10-11 years out of its 300 year, maintained existance.Little in the way of written records have been found that document any action that took place along the frontier, it seems that its main purpose was always to mark the boundary between Rome and the unconquered land to the north of Britain.I beleive that whatever its purpose was, this landscape wouldnt be the same without it as it stands like the backbone of the borders stretching along the bleak moors.The wall conjures up thoughts of Roman soldiers in there primative military dress standing guard on top of the wall.All the relics that have been unearthed along the length of the wall reveal a lot about this powerful race of peaple, that made such a mark on our landscape, that we today have inherited in the things we do.  

The Wall climbing and twisting to the Solway