Cutting across the width of the isle of Britain, this ruined Roman wall is one of England’s most thought-provoking sights. Once a towering 20-foot-tall fortification, these days “Hadrian’s Shelf,” as some cynics call it, is only about three feet wide and three-to-six feet high. The conveniently precut stones of the wall have been carried away by peasants over the centuries and now form the foundations of many local churches, farmhouses, and other structures.
In most places, what’s left of the wall has been covered over by centuries of sod, making it effectively disappear into the landscape. But for those intrigued by Roman history, Hadrian’s Wall provides a fine excuse to take your imagination for a stroll.
These are the most impressive Roman ruins in Britain. It’s fun to pretend you’re a legionnaire on patrol in dangerous and distant Britannia, at the empire’s northernmost frontier… with nothing but this wall to protect you from the terrifying, bloodthirsty Picts just to the north.
Today, several restored chunks of the wall, ruined forts, and museums thrill history buffs. Our patron saint Rick Steves focused us on a few highly digestible stretches right in the middle, where one will also find the best museums and some of the most enjoyable-to-hike stretches of the wall. For Jackie and I, it made a nice stop while traveling out of Scotland and toward the English town of York.
A few of you have mentioned how “happy” Jackie looks in my pictures and videos. She had a great time on our journey… but this was not one of her favorite sections or moments. See… I think it was super enjoyable to hike along along the wall while speaking Latin, even if only for a little while. Jackie… not so much. 🙂 The climb from the parking lot to the wall was a bit strenuous, and while Jackie loves to walk… she does not enjoy “hiking” nearly as much.
We walked a section of the wall between Steel Rigg and the Homesteads Roman Fort. It was a short hike – we parked at the Steel Rigg parking lot (pay parking) and walked a bit less than a mile one way towards Sycamore Gap and then back to the Steel Rigg parking lot.
You walk through the gate to a shoulder-high stretch of wall, and then follow the wall running pretty steeply down to a valley. Ahead are the dramatic cliffs that you must climb back up… these cliffs created a natural boundary that was made to order for a Roman fortification. If you walk all the way to Sycamore Gap, you’ll be making this roller-coaster up and down three more times. That makes six if you go there and back… 🙁
Sycamore Gap is famous for the large symmetrical tree in the middle. This tree was featured in the 1991 Kevin Costner movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves? Forgot about that movie? So did I… pretty forgettable. 🙂