<P> (the departing Romans) thinking that it might be some help to the allies (Britons), whom they were forced to abandon, constructed a strong stone wall from sea to sea, in a straight line between the towns that had been there built for fear of the enemy, where Severus also had formerly built a rampart . </P> <P> Bede obviously identified Gildas' stone wall as Hadrian's Wall (actually built in the 120s) and he would appear to have deduced that the ditch - and - mound barrier known as the Vallum (just to the south of and contemporary with, Hadrian's Wall) was the rampart constructed by Severus . Many centuries would pass before just who built what became apparent . </P> <P> In the late 4th century, barbarian invasions, economic decline and military coups loosened the Empire's hold on Britain . By 410, the estimated End of Roman rule in Britain, the Roman administration and its legions were gone and Britain was left to look to its own defences and government . Archaeologists have revealed that some parts of the wall remained occupied well into the 5th century . It has been suggested that some forts continued to be garrisoned by local Britons under the control of a Coel Hen figure and former dux . Hadrian's Wall fell into ruin and over the centuries the stone was reused in other local buildings . Enough survived in the 8th century for spolia from Hadrian's Wall to find their way into the construction of Jarrow Priory . </P> <P> The wall fascinated John Speed, who published a set of maps of England and Wales by county at the start of the 17th century . He described it as "the Picts Wall" (or "Pictes"; he uses both spellings). A map of Newecastle (sic), drawn in 1610 by William Matthew, described it as "Severus' Wall", mistakenly giving it the name ascribed by Bede to the Antonine Wall . The maps for Cumberland and Northumberland not only show the wall as a major feature, but are ornamented with drawings of Roman finds, together with, in the case of the Cumberland map, a cartouche in which he sets out a description of the wall itself . </P>

Where is hadrian's wall located on a map