Damage to the Ancient Hadrian Wall
In September, a famous British tree was intentionally cut down, and images showed the tree’s trunk lying across part of Hadrian’s Wall, a Roman-built historical landmark in Northumberland National Park, northern England.
This tree gained international recognition due to its appearance in the 1991 movie “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves” and was awarded England’s Tree of the Year in 2016 for its unique location near Hadrian’s Wall.
The incident is currently under investigation by the police as a suspected act of deliberate vandalism, and the tree has since been removed. On Tuesday, Historic England, a government body responsible for preserving historic sites, confirmed that part of the Ancient Hadrian Wall where the tree was felled suffered damage.
An archaeological assessment revealed that “cracks and fragments” had broken off from two of the wall’s stones, and it is believed that the tree felling caused this damage.
Hadrian’s Wall, constructed by the Romans nearly 1,900 years ago to protect the northwestern frontier of the Roman Empire, stretches for 73 miles across northern England and is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Historic England has shared information about the damage with the police to aid their ongoing investigation. They are also collaborating with the National Trust, a UK charity involved in site preservation, to develop a plan for repairing the damage to Hadrian’s Wall.
Additionally, the National Trust is seeking input from the public regarding the future of the site and the fallen tree, encouraging people to share their ideas.
