Bowness-on-Solway is a village in Cumbria, England. It is situated to the west of Carlisle on the southern side of the Solway Firth estuary separating England and Scotland. The civil parish had a population of 1,126 at the 2011 census. The western end of Hadrian's Wall is a notable tourist destination, though the Wall itself is no longer to be seen here above ground. The west end of the Hadrian's Wall Path is marked by a pavilion on the small coastal cliff at Bowness. The village is part of the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
St. Michael's Church, Bowness-on-Solway
Bowness main street
Pavilion at the west end of the Hadrian's Wall Path
Remains of Solway viaduct - English side 2018
Hadrian's Wall is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in ADÂ 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Running from Wallsend on the River Tyne in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west of what is now northern England, it was a stone wall with large ditches in front of it and behind it that crossed the whole width of the island. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large forts, smaller milecastles, and intervening turrets. In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts.
A view of Hadrian's Wall showing its length and height. The upright stones on top of it are modern, to deter people from walking on it.
Sections of Hadrian's Wall still remain, particularly in its hilly central sector. Little remains in lowland regions, where it was used as a source of stone for new buildings.
Hadrian's Wall facing east towards Crag Lough. The rocky outcrop is the Whin Sill, of volcanic origin.
Bronze head of Hadrian, who commissioned the wall's construction, found in 1834 in the River Thames in London, around 280 miles (450 km) south of Hadrian's Wall
