Which UNESCO World Heritage Site includes Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall?

Frontiers of the Roman Empire is the UNESCO World Heritage Site that includes Hadrian’s Wall and the Antonine Wall.

The property represents the frontier system of the Roman Empire: walls, forts, roads, watchtowers, settlements, and related military infrastructure built to control borders and movement. Hadrian’s Wall in northern England was begun in AD 122 during Emperor Hadrian’s reign. The Antonine Wall in Scotland was constructed later, beginning around AD 142 under Antoninus Pius.

Hadrian’s Wall was inscribed in 1987 as a World Heritage Site. The German components, known as the Upper German-Raetian Limes, joined the transnational property in 2005, and the Antonine Wall was added in 2008. UNESCO therefore treats these remains as connected expressions of Roman frontier policy rather than as unrelated monuments.

A frequent mistake is to call the site simply “Hadrian’s Wall.” That wall is one component of the larger, evolving UNESCO property, which spans multiple modern countries and frontier landscapes.