Hadrian's Wall north of Kirkland House and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
195 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 18
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.
195 km from Annan to Annan, about 3 h 18 of riding. On the way it passes Wolsty North tower 13a, Burrow Walls Roman fort, Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house and back through Burrow Walls Roman fort. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall north of Kirkland House
The Wall does not end where most people think. Kirkland House is a name on the map; the point is the flat, open country around it, where the line of the Wall survives as a low, faint bank in places and a footpath on the line of the old ditch. The nearest listed towns, Annan and Eastriggs, are in Scotland across the water, so for a practical stop you want to look east and south instead, to Carlisle.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall north of Kirkland House is where the day begins. Next is Wolsty North tower 13a.
2. Wolsty North tower 13a
Silloth is a small Victorian town on the Solway coast of Cumbria, built in the nineteenth century as a port and a seaside resort, with wide cobbled streets, a green along the seafront and views across the Solway Firth to the hills of Scotland. Just south of the town, at Wolsty, the Romans built a tower as part of the defences that extended Hadrian's Wall down the Cumbrian coast. Tower 13a was one of a chain of small towers and milefortlets, spaced along the shore to watch for raiders crossing the firth from the north.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Wolsty North tower 13a comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Burrow Walls Roman fort.
3. Burrow Walls Roman fort
On the northern edge of Workington, near the mouth of the river Derwent, a fragment of stone wall stands alone in a field, a jagged piece of masonry rising above the grass. It is part of Burrow Walls, a Roman fort that guarded the Cumbrian coast, one of the chain of defences that extended from the western end of Hadrian's Wall down the shore to watch for raiders crossing from Scotland and Ireland. Much of the fort's stone was reused in a medieval building on the site, and what survives today is modest, but it is part of the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage site and has a lonely charm, with views over the sea and the river.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 54 km into the recorded legs you reach Burrow Walls Roman fort. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.
4. 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.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall north of Kirkland House closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall north of Kirkland House to Wolsty North tower 13a
Hadrian's Wall north of Kirkland House → Wolsty North tower 13a is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Wolsty North tower 13a to Burrow Walls Roman fort
Wolsty North tower 13a → Burrow Walls Roman fort is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Burrow Walls Roman fort to Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Burrow Walls Roman fort → Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house to back through Burrow Walls Roman fort
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house → back through Burrow Walls Roman fort is 43 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Burrow Walls Roman fort to back through Wolsty North tower 13a
back through Burrow Walls Roman fort → back through Wolsty North tower 13a is 24 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Wolsty North tower 13a to Hadrian's Wall north of Kirkland House
back through Wolsty North tower 13a → Hadrian's Wall north of Kirkland House is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.