After Britannia

Join Alistair Moffat on a journey along Hadrian's Wall as he writes a new history of Scotland and northern England.

After the Western Empire collapsed, the ruins of Roman Britain endured, still impressive and a source of wonder. None is better known today than Hadrian’s Wall, the largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain, built to guard the north-western frontier of the Empire. The afterglow of Roman-ness contained in these impressive fortifications shaped its successor kingdoms and their sense of self and has remained an enduring influence throughout British history.

In his inimitable style, Alistair Moffat writes a new history of Scotland and northern England as he leads us on a journey along Hadrian's Wall. Beginning in Jarrow on the River Tyne, at the monastery where Bede wrote the definitive Ecclesiastical History of the English People in the early 8th century, we travel westwards along the length of the Wall. We’ll encounter the ghosts of Roman legionaries, Celtic monks and Anglo-Saxon kings, as well as the researchers and archaeologists working to uncover and understand the Wall’s secrets. Travelling along ancient roads reveals new perspectives on Roman Britain and its aftermath, showing how it was not obliterated by centuries of migration and conquest – and certainly not forgotten.