Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 and Carvoran Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and starting at Benwell
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
117 km
Riding-time estimate
1 h 37
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.
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.
A 117 km round trip from Benwell - roughly 1 h 37 in the saddle. It goes by way of Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel, Carvoran Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and and back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7
Hadrian's Wall begins its life not on a windswept crag but in the streets of Newcastle, and wall mile 7 runs through the western suburbs around Benwell and Denton, a few kilometres from the city centre. The Romans numbered the miles westward from the fort at Wallsend, and in this stretch the line of the Wall follows the ridge now taken by the West Road. Most of it lies under houses and tarmac, but fragments surface where you least expect them, which is half the fun.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632.
2. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632
East of Hexham, the Roman frontier crosses gentler country, a rolling landscape of fields, hedges and small woods north of the Tyne valley. Here the Wall itself has mostly disappeared, its stones long since recycled into farmhouses, field walls and the eighteenth-century Military Road that runs along its line. But the vallum, the broad ditch with mounds on either side that marked the southern edge of the military zone, survives in places as a clear earthwork across the fields, and walkers on the Hadrian's Wall Path follow it for miles. This section is part of the same World Heritage site as the dramatic crags further west.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
3. 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
about 39 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel. Next is Carvoran Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and.
4. Carvoran Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and
A Syrian archer unit once garrisoned this hilltop. Carvoran was the Roman fort at the junction of the Wall with the Maiden Way, a road that ran north towards Scotland, and at one time the cohors I Hamiorum, an auxiliary unit raised in the city of Hama in Syria, was stationed here, men who had marched or sailed across the empire to guard a wet, windy ridge in Northumberland. A bronze grain measure found at Carvoran, the Carvoran modius, carries a long inscription that mentions the emperor Hadrian, and it gives a glimpse of how the garrison was supplied. The fort is mostly a grassy platform now, but the position, on a ridge with views over the Tyne Gap, shows why it was chosen.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Carvoran Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Carvoran Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Carvoran Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Carvoran Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall and → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 20 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 Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 is 20 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 to Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 → Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 7 is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.