Sycamore Gap (Explore late entry 31/10/18 #1)

            Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland

The classic view of the lone tree at Sycamore Gap helped by a nice cloudscape to fill the frame. First time here and I was more impressed with Hadrian's Wall. I always imagined it to be quite wide with side walls (like the great wall of China) to protect against the marauding Scots! I found a nice article by English Heritage about the wall but it's a bit lengthy so here's just a few facts...

1) It took around 15,000 men about 6 years to build
Hadrian’s Wall was built by legionaries – the citizen-soldiers of the Roman army. The army contained specialists in masonry, engineering and architecture. It took units from all three of Britain’s legions to construct the Wall: the II Augusta based in Caerleon in South Wales, the VI Victrix from York and the XX Valeria Victrix from Chester – who were also once based around Wroxter Roman City. 

2) It wasn’t abandoned after the end of the Roman Empire
People have continued to live along Hadrian’s Wall ever since it was built. Evidence from Birdoswald Roman Fort shows that the buildings were still being adapted and occupied after the Empire had ended in AD 410.

3) We can only see 10% of the original Wall
The Wall that you see today is only a small fraction – estimated at around 10% – of the original. Over the course of the intervening centuries stone has been removed, buried or destroyed.

4) Hadrian’s Wall has never been the border between England and Scotland
These two kingdoms didn’t exist when Hadrian’s Wall was established. And if it was used as the border today, it would place parts of Cumbria and much of Northumberland in Scotland.
The Romans invaded, and held, large parts of modern-day Scotland, even after the construction of Hadrian’s Wall in AD 122. Hadrian’s Wall was abandoned for about twenty years from c.AD 138, when the Romans established a new frontier in Scotland between what are now the Firths of Forth and Clyde (the Antonine Wall), before being reoccupied around AD 160.

5) Hadrian probably designed the Wall himself
Hadrian is noted for his interest in architecture and the number of provinces he visited whilst Emperor. He is likely to have visited Britain in AD 122, after some kind of conflict in the preceding years, and we know that it was in this period that construction of the Wall started.

6) Hadrian’s Wall is 73, 80, 84 and 174 miles long
A Roman unit of distance was the mille passum, which translates to ‘thousand paces.’ A pace was five Roman feet, meaning a Roman mile measured 5,000 feet. This made Hadrian’s Wall 80 miles long, and each mile was marked by a milecastle fort. These were used for controlling the movement of people, goods and livestock along the Wall.

The ‘modern’ mile was standardised in 1593 as eight furlongs, or 5,280 feet. (A furlong was how far a team of oxen could plough in a day – roughly 660 feet.) This means that modern miles are longer than Roman ones, so Hadrian’s Wall is 73 miles.
   

Taken on: October 26, 2018

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Sycamore Gap

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Emperor Hadrian

AD122

Milecastle 39

Pennine Way

Crag Lough

Northumberland

National Trust

Roman Fort

World Heritage Roman wall footpath

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Camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark III, f/11.0, 1/200 sec, 28mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Lens:	EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM
Aperture:	f/11.0
Exposure Time:	0.005 sec (1/200)
Focal Length:	28mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Aperture-priority AE
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	Uncalibrated
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CC 2018 (Windows)
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