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Signal Station on Hadrian’s Wall (photo by Darren Copley CC-BY)

Hadrian’s Wall, the famous wall built by the Roman emperor Hadrian in the north of England as a border marker and customs post, is to be lit up by a line of flaming beacons along its entire 84 mile length from the coast of eastern England across to the western coast.

The event is planned to place on Saturday 13th March 2010. Starting at the appropriately named Wallsend on the eastern end, it will take about an hour for the beacons to be ignited one at a time. It is planned that there will be over 500 individual beacons. One placed every 250 metres, including one at every milecastle and turret, and a point between each of them.

The event will be followed by a camera crew in a helicopter, and there will be special viewing areas on the Wall which give a view of parts of the line of beacons.

The Wall is a popular tourist destination and this event is part of British Tourism Week 2010.

Emperor Hadrian ordered construction of the Wall in 122AD and it took three legions seven years to build. It stood at 15 feet high and in places up to 10 feet thick. Time has taken its toll and there are only a few surviving parts which are greatly diminished in size. However, there are still 14 forts and museums to explore, and a walking route to discover the milecastles and turrets.

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