Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu and Parton Roman fort

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu

   Drumburgh is a few farms and a ruined-looking castle at the edge of the Solway marsh, and it is easy to miss, but it sits on the line of Hadrian's Wall where it slides down to the shore at Bowness. The castle was built from the stones of a Roman fort, called Congavata, and that gives a picture of how much of the frontier went into later buildings. The label places us on a stretch of Wall between Fulwood House and the next landmark, with Parton Roman fort on the far side of Cumbria, a reminder that Hadrian's frontier carried on around the coast.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu 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 Fulwood House at Bu is where the day begins. Next is Vindolanda.

2. 2. Vindolanda

   Vindolanda is the place where the Romans on the northern frontier start to sound like people. The fort stood on the Stanegate road, just south of the wall, and for several centuries it was rebuilt again and again, each new fort laid on top of the last. The damp, airless soil preserved wood and leather, and in 1973 archaeologists found thin wooden writing tablets covered in ink, letters written by soldiers, officers and their families in about AD 100. They are the oldest handwritten documents found in Britain.

   Read the complete Vindolanda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   Vindolanda comes up about 54 km into the recorded legs. Next is Parton Roman fort.

3. 3. Parton Roman fort

   Hadrian's Wall stopped at Bowness-on-Solway, but the Roman frontier did not. Down the Cumbrian coast, the army built a chain of forts, milefortlets and towers to watch the sea and stop raiders slipping round the end of the Wall, and Parton, just north of Whitehaven, was one of them. The fort is known from excavations and records rather than standing remains, and the coastal defences as a whole are included in the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire. Standing on the cliffs above the sea, you can see why the Romans worried: across the water lie the Isle of Man and, on clear days, the hills of Scotland.

   Read the complete Parton Roman fort write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   about 159 km into the recorded legs you reach Parton Roman fort. Next is back through Vindolanda.

4. 4. back through Vindolanda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Vindolanda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

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

   Planning note

   back through Vindolanda, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu.

5. 5. Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between Fulwood House at Bu 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 Fulwood House at Bu. That is the ride.