English Heritage appoints Hadrian’s Wall ‘Watchers’ for Game Of Thrones queries

English Heritage is hoping to separate fact from fiction for Game Of Thrones fans.

The charity says it is increasingly fielding questions from visitors to some of its sites on similarities between Hadrian’s Wall and author George RR Martin’s creation, the giant ice wall.

The author himself has confirmed that the Roman site inspired the wall in the hit TV series.

As a result, English Heritage has decided to appoint its own Watchers on the Wall – in reference to the epic show’s own Night’s Watch guardsmen – at its Roman forts along Hadrian’s Wall.

Dressed in black cloaks and shields, they “will be on hand to answer visitors’ questions about the series and sort the bloody fact from the even bloodier fiction”, the charity said.

Staff at “Hadrian’s Wall sites have been fielding more and more questions from visitors about the similarities between the Roman Empire’s northern frontier and author George RR Martin’s own giant ice wall”, it added.

Frances McIntosh, English Heritage’s curator of Hadrian’s Wall, said: “Today it may not be supersized like George RR Martin’s colossal ice wall, but when it was built nearly 2,000 years ago, Hadrian’s Wall would have been a huge, hulking sign of Roman imperial strength, and standing on the precipice looking north, you can tell why Martin was inspired by this ancient monument.”

The final series of the epic fantasy drama airs next month on Sky Atlantic and Now TV and is returning after a near two-year wait.

English Heritage’s Watchers on the Wall will be at the charity’s main four Roman sites along Hadrian’s Wall from this week until the final series ends later in the year.

The sites are: Birdoswald Roman Fort in Cumbria and Corbridge Roman Town, Housesteads Roman Fort and Chesters Roman Fort in Northumberland.