Hadrian's Wall

The Best Stops on a Hadrian's Wall Group Visit

Housesteads Fort (Vercovicium) is the most impressive and most visited fort on the Wall — perched on a dramatic ridge of the Whin Sill with views south across the Northumberland landscape and north across the rolling moorland that was Rome's frontier. The stone-built fort, housing a garrison of 800 infantry, is remarkably complete: the barracks, granaries, commanding officer's house, headquarters building and (perhaps most memorably) the latrine block are all clearly visible. A small but excellent museum displays finds from excavations.

Vindolanda, a mile south of the Wall near Bardon Mill, is perhaps the most actively exciting site on the entire frontier for group visitors — excavations continue every summer and have consistently produced extraordinary finds over 50 years. The on-site museum houses the Vindolanda writing tablets (on loan from the British Museum) along with leather shoes, textiles, tools and weapons that paint an extraordinarily vivid picture of life on Rome's northern frontier. Volunteer archaeologists can sometimes be seen at work in the excavation trenches during summer visits.

The Landscape of Hadrian's Wall

The central section of the Wall follows the dramatic Whin Sill — a natural basalt escarpment that drops sharply to the north and allowed Roman engineers to place the Wall on a naturally commanding position. The landscape between Housesteads and Steel Rigg is simply magnificent: open moorland, distant hills and the arrow-straight line of the Wall following the ridge create one of the finest views in northern England. The section between Steel Rigg and Housesteads (approximately 5 miles) is the most visited and most rewarding walking section for groups.