Thirlwall Castle
Thirlwall Castle near Greenhead in Cumbria is a ruined fourteenth-century castle built almost entirely from stones robbed from the nearby Roman Wall of Hadrian, making it an unusual monument that simultaneously illustrates the medieval period and the Roman heritage it drew upon for its construction. The castle was built by the Thirlwall family to defend this remote stretch of the Northumberland-Cumbria border against Scottish raids, and its position close to the Hadrian's Wall corridor reflects the military importance of this route through the north Pennines. The castle is now managed as a heritage site accessible from the Hadrian's Wall National Trail, which passes nearby and connects the castle with the well-preserved Roman sites of the wall corridor. The surrounding landscape of the North Pennines provides some of the finest and most remote upland scenery in northern England.