Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou and Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
252 km
Riding-time estimate
4 h 02
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.
From Annan it runs 252 km to Annan; allow about 4 h 02 of riding. The stops in between: The vallum between the field boundary sout, Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp, Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The and Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti. A steady touring day rather than a sprint.
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 The vallum between the field boundary sout.
2. The vallum between the field boundary sout
Not every stretch of Hadrian's Wall is the dramatic crag-top masonry of the postcards, and this is one of the quieter parts: a section of the vallum, the great ditch-and-mound earthwork the Romans dug behind the wall, running across farmland near Brampton in Cumbria. The stone wall here was largely robbed out long ago for farms and churches, so what survives is often a long, soft hollow in the grass, a line you only notice once someone points it out, and then can't stop seeing.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum between the field boundary sout comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp.
3. Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp
The Twice Brewed inn gives its name to a stretch of Northumberland where the Roman frontier is at its most dramatic. Here the Great Whin Sill, a hard sheet of dark volcanic rock, breaks in a long line of cliffs facing north, and the Wall runs along the very edge of it, rising and falling like a stone roller-coaster. Haltwhistle, five kilometres off, is the nearest town, and Hexham lies a good deal further east.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 62 km into the recorded legs you reach Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp. Next is Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The.
4. Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
Do not expect a great stone wall here. Near Brampton, on the stretch running out toward the A6071, Hadrian's Wall is mostly a matter of earthworks and imagination: a line in a field, a softened ditch, the long parallel banks of the vallum to the south. In this western sector the wall was originally built of turf and timber before being rebuilt in stone, and centuries of farmers and builders carried off the dressed stones for barns and churches. What survives is listed as part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire, and once your eye tunes in, you start seeing the line everywhere.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The, about halfway. Next is Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti.
5. Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti
Haltwhistle likes to call itself the centre of Britain, a claim based on being halfway between the north and south coasts of the island, and while other towns dispute it, nobody disputes that it is the best base for exploring the central section of Hadrian's Wall. Just north of the town, on the rough ground below the crags, Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp is one of several marching camps where Roman troops on the move dug defences for a night or longer, and the label includes a section of the vallum nearby. It is all part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The comes up about 158 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 189 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp. Next is back through The vallum between the field boundary sout.
8. back through The vallum between the field boundary sout
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 252 km.
Leg by leg
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou to The vallum between the field boundary sout
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou → The vallum between the field boundary sout is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The vallum between the field boundary sout to Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp
The vallum between the field boundary sout → Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp to Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp → Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The to Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti
Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The → Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti to back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti → back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The to back through Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The → back through Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp to back through The vallum between the field boundary sout
back through Twice Brewed Roman temporary camp → back through The vallum between the field boundary sout is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The vallum between the field boundary sout to Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou
back through The vallum between the field boundary sout → Hadrian's Wall vallum between the watercou is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.