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C O N T E X T 1 7 9 : M A R C H 2 0 2 4 23 HADRIAN’S WALL daughter of a distinguished Hispano-Roman senatorial family from Cadiz. He lost both of his parents by the age of 10 and was taken under the wing of his father’s first cousin, Trajan, emperor of Rome. Hadrian succeeded Trajan to become Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian vis- ited Britain in 122 AD as the wall construction began, and stayed here until 127 AD. Why the wall was built is unclear. It seems to have been intended to prevent raiding, and it could have been used as a taxation system, to control movement, and as a symbol of strength and power. Where did the stones of the wall and forts disappear to over the last 1,900 years? While there is evidence that the wall and buildings were used and inhabited following the Roman occupation, they were eventually abandoned and fell into disrepair. Given that the wall comprised of prepared, cut stone, it became valuable as a building material for new struc- tures in the nearby towns and villages. The stone was used to build churches, castles, field walls and farmhouses from the sixth century onwards. This plundered Roman material is known as spolia (Latin for spoils, or anything stripped from someone or something). All along both sides of the wall buildings were constructed using stone from the wall and its associated buildings. The development of Christian worship led to the building of churches and monasteries, abbeys and priories. Some have inscription stones set into their walls, or Roman artefacts such as tombstones or altars. Spolia can be seen in the Anglo-Saxon religious houses in the northeast at Tynemouth, Jarrow and Hexham, and later in 12th-century monastic buildings such as Carlisle Cathedral and Lanercost Priory. Evidence is seen in later Cumbrian churches such as St Mary’s, Beaumont, which sits close to the former Roman Turret 70a. Another nearby church, St Michael’s, Burgh by Sands, is located within the former Roman fort of Aballava. The walls of the early church were built of stone from the wall and the nearby vicus (a vicus being a small settlement located outside a Roman military fort, inhabited by the local population to support and trade with the Romans). The present aisle dates from the 13th century, but Roman stone was used to build the tower in the 14th century, and a carved Celtic head is evident within the interior stonework of the tower. This was probably scavenged from the former vici. It was common to incorporate Roman decorative elements, not because they were considered aesthetically valuable by scavenging builders, but because they were adequate as a building material. Over the centuries much of the decorative Roman masonry has been stolen, especially if the stone had inscriptions or carvings. Other artefacts and elements such as altar stones have been found within the walls of buildings and boundaries, and buried in the landscape (such as in the garden of St Michael’s vicarage). Spolia were used in the construction of the domestic buildings of the wealthy, including Thirlwall Castle and Carlisle Castle. Smaller halls, farmsteads and shielings were also con- structed along the wall using plundered materi- als. Examples include a pele tower (see Ryder page 27) known as Drumburgh Castle, and Housesteads Farm. Research is underway to learn more about the construction of Hadrian’s Wall, following the discovery of a fragment of manuscript allegedly written by a legionary stonemason. This indi- cated that four billion Roman pounds of stone were needed to build the longest Roman artefact in the world. We may never know the number of post-Roman buildings (nor the geographical extent) that were built using plundered stone from Hadrian’s amazing boundary. The spolia built in to Drumburgh Castle, a former pele tower, include two Roman shrines. (Photo: Anna Gray) Alexandra Fairclough is a conservation officer in Cheshire, and lectures on architectural history, building conservation and heritage law.