<P> It had a stone base and a stone wall . There were milecastles with two turrets in between . There was a fort about every five Roman miles . From north to south, the wall comprised a ditch, wall, military way and vallum, another ditch with adjoining mounds . It is thought the milecastles were staffed with static garrisons, whereas the forts had fighting garrisons of infantry and cavalry . In addition to the wall's defensive military role, its gates may have been customs posts . </P> <P> A significant portion of the wall still stands and can be followed on foot along the adjoining Hadrian's Wall Path . The largest Roman artifact anywhere, it runs a total of 73 miles (117.5 kilometres) in northern England . Regarded as a British cultural icon, Hadrian's Wall is one of Britain's major ancient tourist attractions . It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 . In comparison, the Antonine wall, thought by some to be based on Hadrian's wall (the Gillam hypothesis), was not declared a World Heritage site until 2008 . </P> <P> It is a common misconception that Hadrian's Wall marks the boundary between England and Scotland . In fact Hadrian's Wall lies entirely within England and has never formed the Anglo - Scottish border . While it is less than 0.6 miles (1.0 km) south of the border with Scotland in the west at Bowness - on - Solway, in the east it is as much as 68 miles (109 km) away . </P> <P> Hadrian's Wall was 80 Roman miles or 117.5 km (73.0 mi) long; its width and height varied according to the construction materials available nearby . East of the River Irthing, the wall was made from squared stone and measured 3 metres (10 feet) wide and 5 to 6 metres (16 to 20 feet) high, while west of the river the wall was originally made from turf and measured 6 metres (20 feet) wide and 3.5 metres (11 feet) high; it was later rebuilt in stone . These dimensions do not include the wall's ditches, berms and forts . The central section measured eight Roman feet wide (7.8 ft or 2.4 m) on a 3 m (10 ft) base . Some parts of this section of the wall survive to a height of 3 m (10 ft). </P>

How far is hadrian's wall from the scottish border