Cite this as: Murphy, K. and Collins, R. 2024 'WallGIS: A Database and GIS for Hadrian's Wall (Data paper)', Internet Archaeology 67. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.67.24
The data archive has been deposited with the Archaeology Data Service.
Murphy, K., Turner, A. and Collins, R. 2022 WallGIS: The GIS Data from the Hadrian's Wall Community Archive Project, WallCAP, 2019-2022 [data-set]. York: Archaeology Data Service [distributor] https://doi.org/10.5284/1100071
Referee statement by Matthew Oakey.
The archive contains the WallGIS Access database, which includes:
The archive also contains the associated GIS shapefiles for each of the features of Hadrian's Wall:
A Database 'ReadMe' document is also included.
The Hadrian's Wall Community Archaeology Project (WallCAP), funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, combined the ethos of community archaeology to meet key aims relating to the archaeological research, conservation, and management of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site. The two main strands of the project consisted of research, fieldwork, and conservation under the label 'Heritage at Risk' (HAR), and research and fieldwork under the label 'Stone Sourcing and Dispersal' (SSD). As the project was focused on the entirety of Hadrian's Wall, a key part of the project was the construction of a bespoke Geographic Information System (GIS) for Hadrian's Wall.
The 80 Roman miles of Hadrian's Wall are now split across three historic counties, owned and managed by numerous heritage organisations and hundreds of landowners. Though famously 'known' for being a large wall, Hadrian's Wall is more accurately described as a monumental complex consisting of a series of linear elements and discrete fortified and ancillary structures. In this regard, Hadrian's Wall or the Wall should be understood as referring to the entire monument and its associated history and landscape.
The Wall has been the focus of a considerable amount of scholarly attention across many centuries, with methodological archaeological investigation forming the primary means by which understanding of the monument has been advanced (Breeze 2014). Further information can be found in the archives, museums, scheduled monument listings, and Historic Environment Records (HERs) that cover the length of the Wall, as well as innumerable antiquarian diaries and letters, historic mapping, and more intangible local knowledge. Two recent monographs provide a synthesis of the Wall (Hodgson 2017; Symonds 2020), and decennial research updates are published in association with the Hadrian's Wall Pilgrimage (most recently, Collins and Symonds 2019), which significantly reference the substantial extant academic literature on the monument. This is a vast amount of data, and more is constantly being added as further research and excavations take place. While the volume of data is to be celebrated, it can be difficult for researchers new to the topic and the public to find and access all the information. Even for experts, the high level of detail associated with specific locations can be challenging to master, given the structural complexity of the monument during its Roman military occupation c 120-410 CE. For example, even during the construction of the monument, the thickness of the curtain was reduced, and new features such as forts and the Vallum were added. This is to say nothing of changes introduced over its subsequent 300 years of use, and the varied use of the monument in its 'afterlife' from the 5th century to the present. A key aim of WallCAP was to bring a large amount of this information together in one place through the creation of a Wall-wide GIS.
The WallGIS primarily consists of an underlying geodatabase which holds descriptive information, spatial data, and many attribute options to capture the characteristics of the Wall and its features. This geodatabase is linked to GIS files so it can be displayed in ArcGIS, QGIS or other mapping software, allowing users to run spatial analysis or create maps using the data. The geodatabase underlying the WallGIS was custom designed and built by WallCAP staff using Microsoft Access. The database was designed with many attribute options, which allowed us to capture the varied characteristics and fine details of the Wall. This attribute-rich design is significant, as it supports the cartographic display of diagnostic features and key research categories of the Wall and subsequent geospatial analyses, hitherto unachieved. Specific features and tables are described in the Database Content and Summary Description sections.
The initial phase of desk-based research and data collection for the database was done by WallCAP volunteers during Covid lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. A standardised data collection form was created for each feature type, and volunteers filled this in for each individual feature along the Wall. This data was then quality checked by WallCAP staff and entered into the WallGIS database. Staff also conducted further detailed research to fill in any gaps in the volunteer gathered data. Finally, the WallGIS went through further quality control checks and a peer review process before being sent to the Archaeology Data Service for digital hosting and display.
Underlying the database are 18 discrete tables, each one designed to capture feature-specific attributes and details that can be separated into the linear elements of the Wall and discrete structure types.
The linear elements consist of: the curtain, including sections bridging rivers (the actual wall element of the monument); the ditch and berm (north of the curtain); and the Vallum and Military Way (south of the curtain). The structure types consist of: turrets; milecastles; forts; settlements; and gateways. Each of these elements has specific traits and attributes that were captured in the database, for example, the 'gate type' associated with a milecastle, the position of the door of a turret, and the gauge of the curtain.
The collation of specific attributes supports more detailed mapping and analysis than has been previously achieved for the Wall. Data collection and resultant mapping also clarifies and underscores gaps in knowledge. Milecastles provide a useful example (Figure 1). At the most basic level of knowledge is the archaeological survival of these structures. Of the expected 80 milecastles, only 58 have confirmed locations (though note in rare instances a milecastle has been replaced by a fort). The unconfirmed locations (shown as white dots) generally correspond to the eastern and western ends of the monument, where there has been substantial urban expansion over the past 200 years, and where the Wall offered useful building materials for post-Roman buildings in the absence of exposed geology suitable for building materials. Of the known milecastles, excavation has revealed different combinations of gate types and overall length of axis. Four different types of gate (I-IV) vary in width and design, and some are only found on certain gauges of the curtain. The milecastles are almost all rectangular, but vary in the measurement of their north-south axis. This breaks down into a long or short axis, with a single square milecastle with equal north-south and east-west dimensions. Mapping of the database queries for these attributes clarifies particular relationships and clusters. The majority of the type I gates are short axis milecastles. Type II and IV gates are only found with long axis milecastles. The majority of type III gates are with long axis milecastles, with exceptions being MC51 (Wall Bowers) and MC52 (Bankshead). There are also 20 milecastles where the axis has been determined, but a lack of surviving archaeological remains means that the gate type cannot be identified.
The WallGIS is focused on Hadrian's Wall in the north of England, with records from South Shields in the east to Bowness-on-Solway in the west. The GIS is focused on the monument of the Wall, but not the extent of the World Heritage Site. In other words, the WallGIS does not extend down the Cumbrian coast. Each individual feature that makes up the Hadrian's Wall monumental complex, each turret, milecastle, fort, and linear mile of curtain, ditch, and Vallum, has a record in the WallGIS. The database covers the Roman period in Britain, with records also indicating if there was any evidence of pre- or post-Roman activity found at each site. In this regard, the GIS is Roman-era in its focus, though with some indication of connections to prehistoric archaeology and post-Roman activity. Given the detailed archaeological record of many sites, the GIS does not replicate or map in any detail information that is readily available in excavation reports. It summarily captures information from those reports (for example in artefact categories present or more general dating).
The WallGIS provides a convenient tool and useful resource for future work. The interactive GIS available through ADS provides a first stop for anyone wishing to use the dataset and maps that can be produced. This feature provides an easy 'quick check' for a research enquiry, as well as a more public-friendly interface for researchers that do not require their own mapping or geospatial software.
The greater potential, however, lies in the underlying database and shapefiles that can be downloaded from the digital archive. These digital-born files provide the researcher with considerable data. There is a vast amount of data that can be linked with the WallGIS. For example, combining the WallGIS with data available from Roman Inscriptions of Britain Online could rapidly support geospatial analysis, such as the distribution of dedications to Cocidius relative to Jupiter in relation to the Wall features. Detailed databases of various classes of artefacts with supporting geospatial information would also benefit from the WallGIS, for example, brooch types.
The WallGIS would also support research and analysis for management of the monument, monitoring deterioration or changing ground conditions collected by the cohort of volunteers that already patrol the Wall. Alternatively, with more data collection, for example, 'people-counters' placed at a series of locations, the intensity and extensiveness of visitor numbers could be analysed. This, in combination with the various analyses provided by GIS, could be a powerful tool indeed for management and tourism purposes.
The entire WallCAP project has been archived with the Archaeology Data Service. The main project archive can be found here. The other strands of the project, Heritage at Risk (HAR) and Stone Sourcing and Dispersal (SSD), have also been archived. The HAR archive holds all of the grey literature excavation, geophysical survey and conservation reports for work undertaken by WallCAP staff and volunteers over the course of the project. The SSD archive includes a series of stone identification and recording guides, and a spreadsheet of stone measurements collected at various sites along Hadrian's Wall and at post-Roman structures in the area.
The project has also produced three monographs:
WallCAP and the creation of the WallGIS was possible with the generous support of the National Heritage Lottery Fund. Thanks also go to Newcastle University for hosting the project, and to the many partner organisations along the Wall for their input to the project. Initial consultation in advance of WallCAP's funding were held with Historic England and Historic Environment Scotland in reference to existing mapping and digital assets, and informed the methodology and aims of the WallGIS. Rob Collins would also like to thank Matt Symonds for fruitful discussions over many years in which the dream of a WallGIS was initially conceived.
This work was supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund [grant number HG-16-08924].
Cite this as: Oakey, M. 2023 'Referee statement' in K. Murphy and R. Collins 2024 'WallGIS: A Database and GIS for Hadrian's Wall (Data paper)', Internet Archaeology 67. https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.67.24.ref
The use of GIS to collect, collate, query, analyse and visualise data has been transformative in the field of archaeology. For a landscape such as Hadrian's Wall, where the depth and complexity of both the archaeological monuments and research history are so great, its potential to provide new insights and understanding is considerable.
WallGIS successfully brings together significant amounts of disparate data into a single database, making available in a single click information which would previously have been time-consuming to collate. Whilst this in itself is hugely beneficial to researchers, the ability to access and query information spatially brings greater flexibility and functionality. The depth and richness of the attribute data has considerable scope for spatial analysis within the dataset, but its value will undoubtedly be realised most effectively when it is combined with other GIS datasets.
Incorporation of height data, for example, could provide new insights into the relationships between the characteristics of individual components of the frontier (e.g. the form of Wall ditch) and their topographical setting. WallGIS data could be used to enhance other large-scale archaeological datasets such as Historic England's Aerial Investigation and Mapping data (now available as open data), providing added layers of detail and nuance. Information such as historic and modern land use data have the potential to help understand survival and condition and inform future management.
As well as helping to synthesise what we already know, WallGIS could also be used to identify knowledge gaps. Assessment of the data collected and collated by WallCAP will help target future archaeological investigations on the Wall and has the potential to inform revision of the relevant regional Research Agendas and the Hadrian's Wall Research Framework (Symonds and Mason 2009), helping to define new research questions.
WallGIS's development has also demonstrated how initiatives such as this can positively engage non-professional audiences whilst applying best practice in community or crowd-sourced data through standardised data collection with robust quality assurance and peer review.
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