Summary: ‘Wall to Wall’ project will see heritage experts from the UK and China work together to increase understanding of both sites and boost tourism

Two walls: Hadrian’s Wall on the left and the much larger Great Wall of China. Composite: The Guardian

‘Wall to Wall’ project will see heritage experts from the UK and China work together to increase understanding of both sites and boost tourism

One is 13,171 miles long and, contrary to popular belief, cannot actually be seen from space. The other is 73 miles long and cannot be seen from Sunderland.

But now the Great Wall of China is joining up with its much tinier British counterpart, Hadrian’s Wall, to encourage more tourism and increase the historical and cultural understanding of both great barriers.

Heritage minister John Glen revealed that representatives from the two world heritage sites will work together to examine how best to manage such large and complex archaeological remains.

But heritage experts in Northumberland expressed surprise that the government had forged ahead with a bilateral agreement when Hadrian’s Wall is actually part of a multinational Frontiers of the Roman Empire world heritage site, a greater part of which runs through the Netherlands, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria and other European countries, as well as North Africa and the Middle East.

“While we absolutely welcome the chance of working with colleagues from China, I’m surprised that this announcement is even possible when it is covering a very small part of a very large world heritage site,” said Andrew Birley, chief executive of the Vindolanda Trust, a charitable trust which manages part of Hadrian’s Wall. “Is Unesco aware of this announcement?”

Birley said he and other heritage experts covering Hadrian’s Wall were “in the dark” about the collaboration with China.

“It would have been nice to have been consulted or even informed that this was taking place,” he said. “We don’t know who the UK’s representative will be in the collaboration with China. It’s erroneous to say that Historic England manages Hadrian’s Wall because there are many organisations that manage such a complex monument, including the National Trust, the National Parks, local authorities and independent charitable trusts like ourselves.”

According to the Department for Media, Culture and Sport, in what is a bilateral arrangement only, heritage experts from China and Britain will explore the potential for encouraging more visitors to the walls that were designed to repel nomads of the Eurasian steppe and Pictish barbarians respectively.

“The Wall to Wall collaboration is the perfect example of how heritage can be used to strengthen international partnerships, grow tourism and build a truly global Britain,” said Glen.

The agreement between the walls – the first of its kind – was announced by Glen at the launch of a new “heritage statement,” the government’s plan for the growth of the heritage sector.

The partnership is part of a cultural exchange between China and the UK taking place in London this week after the conservation of the two walls became a key topic of earlier talks in Beijing and Xi’an in February 2017.

Historic England and the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage, which manages the Great Wall, will sign the agreement on Thursday. They will hold a joint seminar in Newcastle next year before a wider programme of collaboration between the two sites.

Duncan Wilson, chief executive of Historic England, said he was looking forward “to a fruitful collaboration” with the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage. “The minister has reaffirmed the importance of our heritage to creating great places, to the economy, to communities and to our wellbeing,” he said.

The UK heritage sector contributed ￡987m to the UK economy last year – a rise of 7% on 2015 – and employs 278,000 people. Research by English Heritage in 2010 found that every ￡1 of public sector investment in heritage-led regeneration generated a return of ￡1.60.

Wall to wall

The Great Wall of China

Length: 13,171 miles

Age: First walls started 7th century BC; later wall 14th century

Architect: Despite its long history, much of the wall you see today dates to the Ming dynasty (14th century)

Builders: Soldiers, local peasants, masons

Purpose: Repel the nomadic groups of the Eurasian steppe

Modern-day visitors: more than 10 million annually

Hadrian’s Wall

Length: 73 miles

Age: AD122

Architect: Emperor Hadrian

Builders: 15,000 citizen-soldiers

Purpose: Repel the Picts and other barbaric northern Britons

Facilities: Roman Hadrian’s Wall had flushing toilets

Modern-day visitors: more than 250,000 annually