Why this ride
From Annan it runs 123 km to Annan; allow about 2 h 24 of riding. It goes by way of Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp, Watchclose Roman temporary camp, Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar and Burnhead Roman temporary camp.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail and Burnhead Roman temporary camp
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 123 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 2 h 24
- 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.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
The Solway Firth narrows at Bowness-on-Solway, a small village of whitewashed cottages on a low headland, and this is where Hadrian's Wall ended, or rather began, at its western end.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail 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 the dismantled rail is where the day begins. Next is Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp.
2. Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp
Not every Roman monument is made of stone. North of Carlisle, on low ground close to the Solway plain, the traces of a Roman temporary camp show up mainly as marks in the ground and in crops: a square or rectangle of ditch and bank, with rounded corners, where an army spent a night or two under leather tents. Nowtler Hill was one of those places. Marching armies built such camps every evening, digging the ditch and piling the earth into a rampart topped with stakes, so that even a short halt was protected.
Read the complete Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp comes up 16 km in. Next is Watchclose Roman temporary camp.
3. Watchclose Roman temporary camp
East of Carlisle, between the villages of Brampton and Wetheral, the countryside rolls gently towards the Pennines, with green fields, hedges and patches of woodland. Somewhere in these fields lie the faint traces of Watchclose, a Roman temporary camp, one of many marching camps built by soldiers on campaign or during the construction of Hadrian's Wall. These camps were enclosed by a ditch and bank and used for a night or a season, and today they are often visible only from the air or as slight undulations in the grass. Watchclose is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
Read the complete Watchclose Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
33 km in you reach Watchclose Roman temporary camp. Next is Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar.
4. Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar
Building Hadrian's Wall took an enormous amount of stone, and the Romans quarried it wherever they could find good sandstone near the line. In the woods and crags around Banks and Lanercost, east of Brampton, several of these quarries survive, and on the rock faces the soldiers who worked them left their marks: names, unit symbols and short inscriptions carved into the stone nearly two thousand years ago. Coombe Crag, near the Wall here, is one of the best known, with names scratched by men who were probably bored, tired and far from home. Finding them takes a bit of searching and some imagination, as the letters are worn and lichen-covered, but there is something deeply human about them.
Read the complete Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar, about halfway. Next is Burnhead Roman temporary camp.
5. Burnhead Roman temporary camp
The Stanegate is the Roman road that came before the Wall, and Burnhead lies close to its line. Before Hadrian's engineers began their great work in AD 122, the frontier of Roman Britain ran along this road from Corbridge in the east to Carlisle in the west, guarded by forts at intervals of about a day's march, and the Wall was built a little to the north, along the crags. The camp at Burnhead, which belongs to the temporary camps that armies built on the march, is one of the faint earthworks in this country, a low square of bank and ditch in a field above the Haltwhistle Burn.
Read the complete Burnhead Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Burnhead Roman temporary camp sits at 66 km, about halfway. Next is back through Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar.
6. back through Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar comes up 82 km in. Next is back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp.
7. back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Watchclose Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
98 km in you reach back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp. Next is back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp.
8. back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp, late in the day. Next is Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail.
9. Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail 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 123 km.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail to Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp
Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail → Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp to Watchclose Roman temporary camp
Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp → Watchclose Roman temporary camp is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchclose Roman temporary camp to Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar
Watchclose Roman temporary camp → Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar to Burnhead Roman temporary camp
Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar → Burnhead Roman temporary camp is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burnhead Roman temporary camp to back through Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar
Burnhead Roman temporary camp → back through Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar to back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp
back through Eight Roman inscriptions in the Roman quar → back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp is 17 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp to back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp
back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp → back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp to Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail
back through Nowtler Hill 2 Roman temporary camp → Hadrian's Wall between the dismantled rail is 16 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.