The early Romans saw the expansion of their empire as a natural and limitless destiny bounded only by the extent of the world known to them . Events however halted this process.

The Emperor Augustus suffered a severe setback in Germany in AD9, losing three entire legions.  The Roman advance  through Britain, which by AD86 had reached the highlands of Scotland, could not be sustained and by the early second century they had withdrawn back to the Tyne Solway isthmus. The Emperor Hadrian visited the whole of the Empire and firmed up the existing extent of the empire with frontiers. In Britain he gave us Hadrian's Wall.

While it was really an admission of failure - failure to conquer the whole of Britain - it was expressed not in abject terms but as a monumental statement of Roman power.

The line that Hadrian drew in AD122 lasted for most of the Roman occupation of Britain until the 5th century. There were brief and unsuccessful episodes when the Romans attempted to extend northwards into Scotland, but for most of the time Hadrian's Wall was the northern most frontier of the Roman Empire.

It has continued to influence the landscape in the sixteen hundred years since its primary function ceased, as an administrative boundary and as a physical feature. In turn, it has been a source of ready-cut and dressed stone for castles, churches, and farmhouses like Holmhead and increasingly as a wonder of the ancient world to draw admiring visitors and pilgrims.

The distinctive feature of the frontier was a continuous wall, 80 Roman miles long (73 1/2 statute miles), fronted by a deep V-shaped ditch (except where the local topography made this superfluous). The Wall was initially constructed as a turf  rampart between Bowness-on-Solway and the River Irthing east of Birdoswald fort with the eastern two-thirds built in stone as far as Wallsend. 

The initial scheme was to augment this with small fortlets known as milecastles every Roman mile with two watchtowers or turrets equally spaced between each milecastle . The blue-print was altered on several occasions: the most significant change was to add in stages 16 forts to the Wall, holding between 500 and 1000 troops of infantry or cavalry with some mixed units. Simultaneously an earthwork, consisting of a deep ditch with sheer sides and flanked by earthmounds, known as the vallum, was added to the rear to create a controlled zone immediately behind the Wall.

Legionaries (who were Roman citizens) constructed the Wall and its structures but the garrisons that manned it were Auxiliaries - units recruited from areas occupied by the army and usually despatched to serve in another province. Once there, recruitment was local. Many of the units on the Wall are known and were raised from all over the Empire: Gaul (modern France), the Low Countries, Germany, Dacca (in modern Romania) Syria and North Africa. 

The presence of the army, both corporately and through the pay of individual soldiers, created significant demand for food, leather, pottery, weapons, horses and its other needs which stimulated production over a wide region. It also attracted civilians to the settlements around the forts to set up shops, bars, workshops, brothels, and all the requirements of a standing army. The economic sophistication of these settlements was in sharp contrast to the subsistence economy of the remaining native population. Although the Roman army has long departed, the economic power of Hadrian's Wall to create and stimulate economic benefit is still strong in today's world.

A considerable proportion of Hadrian's Wall has been excavated and is displayed for public enjoyment and education. However more of the remains survive unexcavated and frequently without surface indications of their presence. This means that there is still much to learn about the Wall.  Excavations in the last 20 years have made important discoveries which have changed our understanding  of the frontier. Several of these discoveries have come from  urban Tyneside where generally the modern topography completely masks the course of the Wall. The need to develop our understanding through further research, to identify opportunities and priorities and to the  communicate  the results is important for archaeologists, site managers and visitors alike. New research informs presentation and interpretation for public appreciation of the history and importance of the site, as well as its conservation.

It is proposed to keep the boundaries of the World Heritage Site and its setting broadly as in the 1996 Plan. The definition of the World Heritage Site itself includes all of Hadrian's Wall and its associated installations that are protected by the 1979 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act as scheduled monuments . It also includes the line of  Roman forts and towers that pre date the building of the Wall along a road known as Stanegate . It also includes the forts, fortlets and towers that extended beyond Bowness-on-Solway down the Cumbria coast. In operation, Hadrian's Wall itself was the centre of an in-depth military zone, with legionary forts at York and Chester , hinterland forts between these and the Wall and outpost forts to the north of the Wall . 

However it would not be practical to manage a World Heritage site that covered half of northern England. These other elements are not included , with the sole exception of the outpost fort at Bewcastle  and its connecting road to the Wall . The history of this fort, unlike the other outpost forts, is bound up completely with Hadrian's Wall . The setting is the immediate visual envelope around the World Heritage Site within which development affecting the Site and landscape enhancement schemes can be considered .

For further information and a list of the forts that are excavated and have museums, some with Replicas and some with re-enactments, some with ongoing archaeological digs others using the most modern technology to display the excavated work in an interesting and entertaining way to please young and
old, students, tourists alike,  look at www.hadrians-wall.org

For an in-depth study, or joining the archaeologists, or just a peek at this World Heritage Site while enjoying the spectacular countryside,  choose Holmhead as your base.