 William Hutton is generally held to be the first person in modern times to walk the entire length of Hadrian's Wall, producing an account of his 1801 journey in "The History of the Roman Wall".Walking 600 miles from his Birmingham home, along the wall, and back home again, he wrote in the preface, "I have given a short sketch of my approach to this famous Bulwark; have described it as it appears in the present day, and stated my return.Perhaps, I am the first man that ever traveled the whole length of this Wall, and probably the last that will ever attempt it ...".