On the way from Keswick to Edinburgh, Scotland, Ron wanted to visit the amazingly engineered wall built by the Romans that marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire and to keep the barbarians north of the wall. The wall is known as Hadrian's Wall and stretches across the narrowest portion of Great Britain just a few miles south of the present day boundary of England and Scotland.
The wall was ordered built by Emperor Hadrian around AD 120 and took several years to complete. The stone wall was 73 miles long and had milecastles (protected gates) every mile with two observation towers (turrets) between the the milecastles. The wall was probably at least 20 feet high had a deep ditch on the north side, a number of forts with approximately 20,000 soldiers. We stopped at Housesteads which is one of best remaining examples of the Roman forts. Hadrian's Wall was occupied for 300 years. After the Romans left Britain, the wall stones were used in churches, homes, and pasture walls ... resulting in most of the wall disappearing under sediment or being reduced in height.
 |
| Hadrian's Wall at Housesteads |
 |
| Another section of the wall at Housesteads |
 |
| Portion of wall at Housesteads |
 |
| Face of wall (note the exacting course heights) |
 |
| Fort at Housesteads |
 |
| Well built from the wall at Housesteads |
No comments:
Post a Comment