Construction began on Hadrian's Wall back in AD 122 and it took the best part of a decade to complete. It was approximately 74 miles in length and spanned the entire width of the narrowest part of northern England.

The wall was built by the Roman Empire as a defence against invasion from Scottish tribes. The original construction was 3 metres deep and about 6 metres in height using a combination of limestone and turf.

A large part of the wall still exists today and is the most popular tourist attraction in the north of England - although it is difficult to imagine that many people manage to walk the whole 74 miles!

This stamp below, showing a section of Hadrian's Wall, was taken from the World Heritage Sites stamp issue from April 2005. You can see another couple of world heritage sites from this stamp set on our icon page dedicated to Stonehenge.

Illustration

2nd class stamp of Hadrian's Wall