Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
242 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 51
Journey
Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
The recorded total and the leg detail need reconciliation. Inspect the leg notes before using this record for timing or navigation. 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.
From Prudhoe it runs 242 km to Prudhoe; allow about 3 h 51 of riding. It goes by way of Brown Moor Roman temporary camp, Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel and back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. 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
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc is where the day begins. Next is Brown Moor Roman temporary camp.
2. Brown Moor Roman temporary camp
A couple of kilometres west of Chollerford, the Military Road climbs onto open moorland, and at a place called Limestone Corner, the most northerly point of Hadrian's Wall, the Romans gave up. Their ditch in front of the Wall was supposed to be cut through solid rock here, and you can still see where they started: huge blocks of whinstone split by wedges and left lying in the ditch, with holes for the levers still visible, as if the workers had just walked away for lunch. Brown Moor, close by, is the site of one of several Roman temporary camps in this stretch, where soldiers camped while building the Wall or moving through the frontier zone, their outlines barely visible in the rough grass.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Brown Moor Roman temporary camp comes up 34 km in. Next is Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S.
3. Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S
Where Cumbria meets Northumberland in the valley of the river Irthing, the Wall climbs out of a wooded gorge on to open ground, and a Roman road called the Maiden Way ran north from the Wall towards Bewcastle and south towards Kirkby Thore, linking the frontier to the supply routes of the interior.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
68 km in you reach Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
4. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Just west of Chollerford the road climbs onto higher ground and the Wall begins to show itself, first as a hump in the fields, then as a ditch and earthwork running alongside the tarmac. This is the central sector of Hadrian's Wall, built from the 120s on the orders of the emperor Hadrian to mark the northern edge of Roman Britain, and the stretch around Carrawburgh is one of the most atmospheric. The vallum, a broad ditch flanked by mounds on the southern side of the Wall, is especially clear here, and it shows the Roman frontier was not just a wall but a whole military zone, with forts, milecastles, turrets, roads and earthworks.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel, about halfway.
5. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
West of Birdoswald the Wall changes character. The central crags fall behind, the River Irthing loops through its gorge below, and the frontier runs across gentler farmland towards Banks and Hare Hill, where one of the tallest surviving fragments of the Wall still stands, patched by later hands. Here too the vallum, the great earthwork south of the Wall, can be traced across the fields, and the remains of turrets at Banks East and Pike Hill sit right beside the road. It is a quieter stretch than the famous sections further east, and all the better for it.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 242 km.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc to Brown Moor Roman temporary camp
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc → Brown Moor Roman temporary camp is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Brown Moor Roman temporary camp to Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S
Brown Moor Roman temporary camp → Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 34 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 fiel
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 34 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 back through Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → back through Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S to back through Brown Moor Roman temporary camp
back through Maiden Way Roman road from B6318 to 450m S → back through Brown Moor Roman temporary camp is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Brown Moor Roman temporary camp to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc
back through Brown Moor Roman temporary camp → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the Marc is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.