Brampton Old Church Roman fort and the med and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Brampton Old Church Roman fort and the med

   Brampton is the sort of small Cumbrian market town that makes a good place to stop for lunch without any plan to do so. A few miles east of Carlisle, in the green valley of the River Irthing, it has an octagonal Moot Hall in the market place, built in the early nineteenth century, and a main street of sandstone houses and tea rooms. Market day brings stalls to the square, and the town has the unhurried feel of a place that knows where it is. The old church that gives this stop its name stands outside the town, on a rise by the river, with the grass mounds of a Roman fort beside it.

   Read the complete Brampton Old Church Roman fort and the med write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Brampton Old Church Roman fort and the med is where the day begins. Next is Mawbray Sandpit tower 16b.

2. 2. Mawbray Sandpit tower 16b

   When people talk about Hadrian's Wall they usually mean the stone barrier across the neck of England, but the system continued down the Cumbrian coast for dozens of kilometres, as a chain of small forts, called milefortlets, and watchtowers facing the Irish Sea. Tower 16b, at Mawbray, was one of those lookouts, standing on the low, windswept coast between Silloth and Maryport. The Romans feared raids by sea, and a line of towers gave warning along the coast, with signals passing from one to the next.

   Read the complete Mawbray Sandpit tower 16b write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Mawbray Sandpit tower 16b comes up about 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.

3. 3. Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house

   Walls Castle is the odd name for a Roman bath house, and the building still stands to a height of about four metres, one of the tallest Roman structures in northern England. It stood outside the fort of Glannoventa at Ravenglass, a harbour station at the meeting of three rivers, the Irt, the Mite and the Esk, and in the dry shelter of the dunes it has survived because its walls were thick and well built. You can walk around it on a short path from the village, and see niches and a doorway in the thick walls. The fort itself lies mostly under farmland and the railway.

   Read the complete Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 126 km into the recorded legs you reach Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house. Next is back through Mawbray Sandpit tower 16b.

4. 4. back through Mawbray Sandpit tower 16b

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Mawbray Sandpit tower 16b write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Mawbray Sandpit tower 16b, late in the day. Next is Brampton Old Church Roman fort and the med.

5. 5. Brampton Old Church Roman fort and the med

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Brampton Old Church Roman fort and the med write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Back at Brampton Old Church Roman fort and the med. That is the ride.