Trip of the week: walking into the past on Hadrian’s Wall
This year marks the 1,900th anniversary of the ancient wall

Stretching across Cumbria and Northumberland, from coast to coast, Hadrian’s Wall formed the northwest frontier of the Roman empire for almost 300 years. This year is its 1,900th anniversary: the Emperor Hadrian came to Britain to build it in AD122, says Sean Newsom in The Times.
Although parts of the wall have been lost down the centuries, its remains are still visible across significant stretches, and in recent years, archaeological finds have shed light on the lives of those who manned it. A single day is not enough to do it justice, so go for a long weekend, basing yourself near its central stretch.
Once a principal supply centre, the ancient town of Corbridge has a museum that features excavated remains including two “mighty” granaries, and a water trough with U-shaped depressions formed by countless people leaning in to fill their buckets.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
But the wall’s greatest “archaeological wonder” is the fort of Vindolanda, where ordinary articles, such as wooden loo seats and hobnailed boots have been found, perfectly preserved in the wet, airless clay, together with writing tablets of the kind that were routinely used by the Roman army, but which have rotted away elsewhere. You can read about plans for birthday parties, and orders for turnips.
Today, food is easier to come by in these parts – and some of it is excellent. You might stay at Hjem, a Michelin-starred restaurant-with-rooms, and sample the “melt-in-the-mouth” lamb at the Matfen Hall hotel.
But on a trip like this, a touch of asceticism is called for: try a long walk along the wall to get “a taste of its rigours as it rollercoasters over the crags”; and visit Housesteads Fort, which provides a glimpse of “the frontier as everyone pictures it – high, remote and tormented by an almost continuous wind”; this was a “remorseless” posting if ever there was one.
For accommodation, see crabtreeandcrabtree.com and restauranthjem.co.uk, and for anniversary celebrations visit 1900.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
The Anatomy of Painting: Jenny Saville's 'stunning' retrospective
The Week Recommends Saville's new collection features 'masterpieces' from throughout her career
-
M3GAN 2.0: riotous action sequel to the comedy-horror hit about a killer doll
The Week Recommends A 'ridiculously' entertaining 'hyper-camp mash-up' of Terminator 2 and Mission: Impossible
-
Shami Chakrabarti picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The politician and human rights activist shares the polemics that inspired her
-
Properties of the week: bright and cheerful houses
The Week Recommends Featuring homes in Cornwall, London and Norfolk
-
6 sleek homes for modernists
Feature Featuring a concrete-and-steel home in South Carolina and a renovated 19th-century former carriage house in Pennsylvania
-
The Genius Myth: a 'fresh and unpretentious' book from Helen Lewis
The Week Recommends This 'angry, witty book' by Helen Lewis is a valuable critique of the 'flattering fiction' of genius
-
From Hilde, With Love – the 'moving' story of an accidental revolutionary
The Week Recommends Liv Lisa Fries gives a 'compelling' performance as the soft-spoken heroine.
-
Exploring Georgia's southern highlands
The Week Recommends Visit Javakheti, Georgia's 'lake district', and meet the last-remaining 'spirit wrestlers' in the region