Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and

   Brampton is a small market town at the foot of the North Pennines, and just north of it, the line of Hadrian's Wall crosses the low country between the Irthing and the Eden. On this stretch, the stone wall itself has mostly vanished, robbed for building material over the centuries, but the line can still be traced in places through fields and hedgerows, along with the vallum, the great earthwork ditch the Romans dug just south of the wall. Parts of the wall in this sector were first built of turf, and only later rebuilt in stone, which is one reason why so little survives here.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and is where the day begins. Next is Beckfoot Roman fort.

2. 2. Beckfoot Roman fort

   Most people think Hadrian's Wall ended at Bowness-on-Solway, and in stone it did. But the Romans did not trust the shallow Solway Firth to keep raiders out, so they carried their defences on down the Cumbrian coast for many miles: a chain of small milefortlets and watchtowers, with proper forts at intervals, all the way to Maryport and beyond. Beckfoot is one of those forts, on a low bluff a few kilometres south of Silloth, looking straight across the water to Scotland. Above ground there is almost nothing, just a field with faint outlines, but aerial photos and excavations have shown the fort, its civilian settlement and its cemetery, and coastal erosion keeps nibbling at the remains.

   Read the complete Beckfoot Roman fort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Beckfoot Roman fort comes up about 62 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 Beckfoot Roman fort.

4. 4. back through Beckfoot Roman fort

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Beckfoot 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 Beckfoot Roman fort, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and.

5. 5. Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Back at Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and. That is the ride.