Last updated 19:24, Thursday, 07 February 2008

For the first time, Cumbrians can stand face to face with one of the architects of the county. His fingerprints, and those of his fellow Romans, have been left all over our countryside. Mr Padley is in no doubt about the importance of Hadrian’s legacy, locally and internationally: “In this age of tourism, it is a great pull and lots of people owe their livelihoods to the wall.

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There are forts and villas, bath houses and roads.

But the lasting monument to Emperor Hadrian is a 73 mile-long wall that stretches from the Irish Sea to the mouth of the River Tyne.

Now Cumbrians have the chance to come eyeball to eyeball with the man responsible.

For the first time, The British Museum has granted permission for a lifelike bronze bust of the Emperor to go out on loan.

The nine-week exhibition titled: The Face of an Emperor: Hadrian inspects the wall opens today and is a huge coup for Carlisle’s Tullie House Museum.

After appearances at Tullie House and Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum at Wallsend on the Tyne, the bust will be the star feature of this year’s big summer exhibition at the British Museum.

Following on from the success of the Terracotta Army exhibition at the Museum, tens of thousands are expected to visit the exhibition on Hadrian.

And it is hoped that 2,000 years after creating the wall, Hadrian will spark a further increase in tourism for northern Cumbria.

Extra events in and around the wall are being planned to cash in on the wave of interest the London show is bound to create.

And talks are under way to stage a major exhibition of Roman artefacts from Cumbria, Northumberland and Europe.

The head is one of the rare surviving bronzes from Roman times and has never left the British Museum since its discovery in the Thames in 1834.

As well as being the star of the current Tullie House display, it will be the main attraction in a collection focusing on Hadrian’s rule that opens at the British Museum on July 24.

“We think the British Museum exhibition will have an immediate impact and uplift on the wall for the autumn,” said Linda Tuttiett, chief executive of Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd.

“It is a shop window for us and we are working on making the most of that so people feel that making a visit to the wall inevitable.

“We don’t want to lose that impetus and we are looking at a major plan of additional activities for 2009.”

She reckons the wall should be regarded with the same importance as another English World Heritage Site – Stonehenge.

Among the extra events being planned to highlight the importance of the wall are light shows, theatre and re-enactments.

In the Tullie House show, the head is the exhibition, made possible by the support of Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd.

It is a minutely-detailed object detailing his beard (which was rare and set a trend in Roman times) and even a crease in his left ear lobe.

The body part of the statue has never been found and it is thought it has been melted down.

Tullie House keeper of archaeology, Tim Padley, has created a temple as a setting for the head and surrounded it with titles.

Visitors follow a trail through the museum’s Roman collection, before arriving at the temple.

“We have constructed Corinthian columns and it will look spectacular,” promised Mr Padley.

Linda Tuttiet had a sneak preview of the bust during a visit to the British Museum and revealed: “It is an absolutely amazing piece of bronze work, it has amazing presence.”

And she is in no doubt about the effect the Emperor and his men have had on the history of Cumbria.

She explained: “Culturally, he shaped the way we are in our behaviour and view of the world today.

“The loan of this unique exhibit is a great opportunity for people in Cumbria to learn more about their Roman heritage and the legacy that Hadrian left behind.”

“It has been deemed that it is not just part of Cumbria’s or Britain’s history, it is a World Heritage Site.

“It is part of everyone’s history.”

Hadrian built the wall to draw a line in his empire, and to provide much-needed money for his army.

So it is appropriate that it continues to provide trade for those businesses garrisoned along it today in Cumbria and Northumberland.

“Until Hadrian came along, the Roman Empire was expanding continually.

“He was a realist and realised it was unsustainable, so he made peace with the Parthians in the east and went round the empire, drawing up boundaries.

“The wall provides a line that marks the start of the empire.”

It took just eight years to build the wall, and Hadrian used his crack troops as labourers.

It was not built as a defence to keep people out but to control a frontier and make money for the empire.

“He wanted builders he could trust. He didn’t want any holes or weaknesses in it,” reasoned Mr Padley.

“With gates every mile, it was not like the Berlin wall, it was a controlling method and people had to pay money to cross through it to visit family or trade.

“It is also a statement and says to the Picts, this is the power of Rome.

“It sends out a psychological message and says ‘don’t mess with us’.”

While we know that he visited Britain, historians can’t say for sure that the emperor actually travelled this far north.

“The Vindolanda Trust has excavated a huge building and says it was constructed so he could spend time there while he was planning the wall.

“If he was there, then he probably came to Carlisle as well.

“The problem is, we have nothing to document any visit,” said Mr Padley.

As for present-day visitors, sadly, their numbers have declined in recent years and the heritage group was formed in May 2006 to promote the economic, social and cultural regeneration of the monument and the surrounding communities.

There are currently about 600 hotels and B&Bs along the length of the wall that depend on its 9.6m annual visitors for their business.

Then there are the dozens of cafes and pubs, villages and towns such as Burgh-by-Sands, Brampton and Haltwhistle which also benefit from the £552m-worth of trade brought by the wall.

Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Ltd are anticipating 385,000 extra tourists this year, increasing income along the wall corridor by an extra £22m.

Cumbria Tourism chairman Eric Robson is sure the British Museum exhibition will have a positive effect on north Cumbria and help re-launch the Wall for many people.

He explained: “Hadrian will say ‘Your wall needs you’ and will encourage people to come back and visit it. One of the problems with Hadrian’s Wall is that for many people it was the place you were dragged to when you were a child and got wet and it has not changed much, so there is no point going back there.

“But the quality of interpretation along there now is fantastic, with light shows and re-enactments like Pax Britannica.”

As well as attracting more visitors to the area, tourist chiefs are hoping to lure more businesses to the region to cater for tourism.

Mr Robson added: “The potential impact of Hadrian on the Cumbrian economy is enormous.

“We want to show that there is huge potential in terms of hotels and facilities and build up the infrastructure we know we can attract to the area.

“We have tens of thousands of visitors but they can’t leave something in the local economy if there are no coffee shops or hotels for them.”

Hadrian’s empire covered 32 modern-day countries and stretched from Brampton and Burgh-by-Sands to Syria, from Wallsend to Morocco.

Mr Robson even came across a tribute statue to Hadrian during a recent trip to Albania.

“It would be great if we could bring that to Cumbria next year!”