![]() It was a clerk and laywer from Newcastle, John Clayton, who began the first efforts to save what was left of the wall in the 19th Century, buying land from farmers to stop continuing extraction of the Roman stone and began various archaeological excavations. The largest scale destruction was carried out in the 18th Century to build General Wade’s military road to move troops up to Scotland to crush the Jacobite uprisings. Most of the wall was slowly dismantled following the Roman withdrawal from Britain, with stones going to build medieval farmhouses, dry stone walls and churches. The Hadrian's Wall Path provides a public right of way along the whole length of the wall, some 135 kilometres from coast to coast. The farmland of southern Northumberland and Cumbria is dotted with occasional stetches of wall in various states of repair as well as the vallum earthworks, many free to access in the open countryside. Whilst not the most impressive remains, it is quite surreal to see fragments of a nearly 2000-year-old border fortification now surrounded by the semi-detached houses of English suburbia. Further west, but still within the urban sprawl of Newcastle, a small shrine (see attached picture), section of vallum crossing, and parts of the wall can all be seen in the area of Benwell. Depending on who you ask, the area is perhaps more famous for Wallsend Boys Club, the football (soccer) club that produced such great players as Alan Shearer. Across the Tyne to the north, the fort of Segedunum marks the start of the cross-country Hadrian’s Wall long distance walking path but is less impressive as only the shape of the foundations survives with few original remains but the signage at the nearby Wallsend metro station is in both English and Latin, which offers some amusement. ![]() Arbeia is close to South Shields metro station, which has regular connections into the centre of Newcastle via Bede station, from which it is a short walk to the tentative WHS of Jarrow Monastery. Starting at the easternmost edge, the fort of Arbeia guarded the mouth of the River Tyne and features some original foundations as well as a reconstructed gatehouse and barracks. Rather than add to this, I thought I would offer some insight into the more obscure sites for those in the area for longer. Much has been said about the highlights of Hadrian’s Wall, particularly the area around Housesteads and Vindolanda, and these are indeed best-preserved sections so should be top of the list for anybody who has not visited before.
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