Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
187 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.
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Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
A 187 km round trip from Annan - roughly 3 h 18 in the saddle. 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. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou
The vallum is the strangest part of Hadrian's Wall, and a good place to see it is on the flat ground near Bowness-on-Solway. It is a broad, deep ditch with a flat bottom, flanked by two mounds of earth set back from the edge, and it ran along the south side of the wall for its whole length. Nobody is certain what it was for, but the best theory is that it marked the rear boundary of a military zone, a line that civilians could cross only at controlled points, which fits with the idea of the wall as a border of customs and security as well as defence.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou 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 26 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 50 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 vallum between the watercou closes the day.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou to Wolsty North tower 13a
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou → Wolsty North tower 13a is 26 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 44 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 vallum between the watercou
back through Wolsty North tower 13a → Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.