Hadrian's Wall cultural icon, Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient tourist attractions. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. In comparison, the Antonine wall, thought by some to be based on Hadrian's wall (the Gillam hypothesis), was not declared a World Heritage site until 2008. It is a common misconception that Hadrian's Wall marks the boundary between England and Scotland. In fact Hadrian's Wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the Anglo-Scottish border. While it is less than south of the border with Scotland in the west at Bowness-on-Solway, in the east it is
Scotland during the Roman Empire as unified ideas until centuries later. In fact, the Roman Empire influenced every part of Scotland during the period: by the time of the Roman withdrawal from Britain around 410, the various Iron Age tribes native to the area had united as, or fallen under the control of, the Picts, while the southern half of the country was overrun by tribes of Romanized Britons. The Scoti (Gaelic Irish raiders) who would give Scotland its English name, had begun to settle along the west coast. All three groups may have been involved in the Great Conspiracy that overran Roman Britain in