Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel and Roman fort
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
186 km
Riding-time estimate
2 h 54
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 186 km round trip from Brampton - roughly 2 h 54 in the saddle. The stops in between: Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc, Roman fort and back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
East of Carlisle, near the market town of Brampton, Hadrian's Wall crosses a landscape of rolling farmland, hedges and woods along the valley of the River Irthing. Here the wall and its vallum, the great earthwork ditch that ran behind it on the southern side, cross fields where the stone has mostly been robbed for farm buildings, but the earthworks remain clearly visible as long ridges and hollows in the grass.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
2. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Here the Wall is at its most dramatic. In the central sector of Hadrian's Wall, north of Haydon Bridge and Hexham in Northumberland, the Roman frontier runs along the top of the Whin Sill, a long ridge of hard volcanic rock that breaks the moorland into a series of north-facing cliffs. The Romans built their wall right along the crest, using the natural defences, and the result is a line of stone that rises and falls with the crags like the spine of a great animal. Behind it, to the south, runs the vallum, a broad earthwork ditch with mounds on either side that marked the military zone, still clearly visible across the fields.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel comes up about 28 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc.
3. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc
Most people meet Hadrian's Wall in the wild middle section around Housesteads, where it rides the crags of the Whin Sill. Out here at the eastern end, a few miles from Newcastle, it is a quieter, more domestic affair, and that is part of its charm. Heddon on the Wall, four kilometres away, keeps one of the longest surviving stretches of the wall's full broad foundation on this side of the country, a solid run of masonry beside the road, and the ground around it preserves the vallum, the great flat-bottomed ditch with banks on either side that the Romans dug just south of the wall to mark the military zone. Begun under the emperor Hadrian in AD 122, the whole frontier ran from the Tyne to the Solway, and it is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc. Next is Roman fort.
4. Roman fort
At the mouth of the Tyne, on a rise above the river, stands a reconstructed Roman gateway that looks surprisingly new. It belongs to Arbeia, the Roman fort at South Shields, which supplied the soldiers along Hadrian's Wall and was built, strategically, to guard the entrance to the river. Ships unloaded grain and other goods here, and the stores were carried along the Wall's line, so this was the logistical heart of the frontier. Reconstructed buildings, including the gatehouse, a barrack and a commander's house, show how it looked, and the museum holds finds from the site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc sits at 143 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
6. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc to Roman fort
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc → Roman fort is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Roman fort to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc
Roman fort → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.