A Hadrian's Wall fort above the River Irthing, with the longest continuous stretch of the Wall still standing close by
Open to visitorsan English Heritage site — check opening times and admission before you go
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
The Romans built Birdoswald as a fort on Hadrian’s Wall, the stone frontier begun around AD 122 under the emperor Hadrian to mark the northern edge of Roman Britain. The fort — Banna in Latin — sits on a bluff above a bend in the River Irthing, and just to the east runs the longest continuous stretch of the Wall still visible anywhere. Behind the Wall you can also pick out the vallum, the broad flat-bottomed ditch and banks the army dug as a rear boundary. A few hundred soldiers were based here, and unusually the site shows signs of people carrying on inside the walls long after Rome pulled out of Britain around AD 410, when a large timber hall was raised over the old granaries.
English Heritage looks after Birdoswald, with a visitor centre, a farmhouse and the fort walls to walk round. The Hadrian’s Wall Path runs right past the northern gate, and the fort makes an easy stop between Thirlwall Castle to the east and the wide moors of the North Pennines to the south. The nearest crags worth a look are at Walltown.
More at the National Heritage List entry
