Management Plan for the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site

Hadrian's Wall and its associated features are the most complex and best preserved of all the frontier works of the Roman Empire comprising the Wall itself, the Vallum, which probably marked the rear edge of the Wall zone, 16 forts (surrounded by civilian settlements) along or near the Wall, the Roman towns of Carlisle and Corbridge lying behind the Wall, and outpost forts protecting the approaches from the north. There are also many earlier Roman military works such as marching camps and permanent bases along the east-west Stanegate road which may itself have begun as a control line before the decision was taken to build the Wall. The landscape of the Tyne-Solway isthmus is very varied. In the east, on Tyneside, the setting of the Wall is predominantly urban. In east Northumberland, the country is mainly arable and open while in the central sector the ground rises to over 300 metres above sea level and the land-use is pastoral. East Cumbria too is pastoral, except for the built-up areas of the City of Carlisle. West of Carlisle, the landscape changes again as the defences run along the edge of the Solway tidal marshes, and there are further differences along the west Cumbrian coast, part open, part industrial and urban.