Hadrian's Wall is taking centre stage this evening to commemorate the 1600th anniversary of the ending of Roman rule.

More than 1,000 volunteers are helping to set Britain's longest historic monument alight for a one-night only event. There will be 500 individual points of light, at roughly 250-metre intervals, along the route of the 84-mile Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail. The lighting up ceremony will begin at Segedunum Roman Fort at Wallsend with the first of the lights appearing just before 6pm. The line of light will then begin its journey westwards.

Along the way it will pass through the cities of Newcastle and Carlisle, and some of England's most beautiful countryside, ranging from rolling fields to rugged moorland. The final gas beacon is due to be lit at Bowness-on-Solway on the Cumbrian coast at about 6.50pm and the full line of light will say alight until about 7.15pm.

The wall was built over a period of years starting in 122 AD by the Roman emperor Hadrian at the northernmost frontier of the empire in Britain. It was made a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1987.