Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Fenc and Herd Hill North

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Fenc

   East of the crags the Wall country softens into the Tyne valley, a green landscape of meadows and woods, and near Corbridge you meet something the Wall itself never had: a town. Corbridge Roman Town, known to the Romans as Coria, grew up at the crossing of the River Tyne and the great north road, Dere Street, and served as a supply base for the army and a market for the civilians who followed it. The granaries and fountain survive, and a museum holds finds such as the famous Corbridge Lion, a sculpture of a lion devouring a stag. The label puts us on a stretch of Wall and vallum near Herd Hill, a few kilometres north-east.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Fenc write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Fenc is where the day begins. Next is Roman fort.

2. 2. Roman fort

   Newcastle got its name from a castle built in 1080 by Robert Curthose, eldest son of William the Conqueror, but the hilltop he chose above the Tyne had already been used for centuries. Beneath the Castle Keep and the Black Gate lie the remains of Pons Aelius, a small Roman fort that guarded a bridge across the river near the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. The name honoured Hadrian himself, whose family name was Aelius. Outlines of the fort are marked in the paving around the keep, and the Swing Bridge below crosses the river close to where the Roman bridge stood.

   Read the complete Roman fort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Roman fort comes up 45 km in. Next is Fell End Roman temporary camp and section.

3. 3. Fell End Roman temporary camp and section

   Haltwhistle likes to call itself the centre of Britain, a claim based on measurements that no one outside the town quite trusts, but which has produced a very good tourist sign. The town sits in the South Tyne valley, a few kilometres south of Hadrian's Wall, and the wall and vallum between Fell End and the neighbouring crags form one of the most atmospheric sections of the whole frontier. The label here mentions a Roman temporary camp, and the district is full of such earthworks, built by marching legions as they moved through the area.

   Read the complete Fell End Roman temporary camp and section write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   91 km in you reach Fell End Roman temporary camp and section. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La.

4. 4. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La

   Just east of Carlisle, near the village of Scotby, the Wall leaves almost no mark on the land. Here, at the western end of the Roman frontier, it was built first of turf and timber before being rebuilt in stone, and much of that stone has since been carried off to build farmhouses, churches and field walls. What survives is mostly buried, a faint line in the pasture or a slight ridge followed by a hedge. The vallum, the great earthwork that ran behind the wall, sometimes shows as a shallow trough in the fields. Yet this quiet stretch is part of the same World Heritage site as the dramatic crags further east, and walking the Hadrian's Wall Path through it gives a sense of continuity across the whole country.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La, about halfway. Next is Herd Hill North.

5. 5. Herd Hill North

   Bowness-on-Solway is the western end of Hadrian's Wall, a quiet village on a low headland above the estuary, and Herd Hill lies a little farther along the shore on the Cardurnock peninsula. Roman engineers built the wall to Bowness, where the fort of Maia stood, and then continued the defences south along the Cumbrian coast with milefortlets and towers. The northern watchtower on this hill was one of the chain that watched across the water to Scotland, at a place where the Solway is narrow enough to be forded at low tide.

   Read the complete Herd Hill North write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Herd Hill North sits at 182 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La.

6. 6. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Birky La comes up 227 km in. Next is back through Fell End Roman temporary camp and section.

7. 7. back through Fell End Roman temporary camp and section

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Fell End Roman temporary camp and section write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   272 km in you reach back through Fell End Roman temporary camp and section. Next is back through Roman fort.

8. 8. back through Roman fort

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Roman fort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Roman fort, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Fenc.

9. 9. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Fenc

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Fenc write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   The route ends here after 317 km.