Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha and Haltonchesters Roman fort
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
200 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 11
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.
200 km from Annan to Annan, about 3 h 11 of riding. On the way it passes Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The, Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti, Haltonchesters Roman fort and back through Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha
The Solway Firth is shallow and wide on its Scottish side, and between Annan and Gretna the land is flat and green, with sheep and cattle, field boundaries lined with hawthorn, and long views across the water to the Lake District hills.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The.
2. 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 comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti.
3. 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
about 67 km into the recorded legs you reach Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti. Next is Haltonchesters Roman fort.
4. Haltonchesters Roman fort
Where Dere Street, the great Roman road north from York, met Hadrian's Wall, the Romans built a gateway, and a mile or so west of it they placed the fort of Haltonchesters, known to them as Onnum. Today the site is a grassy field on the edge of the Military Road above the Tyne valley, with little to see beyond the faint outline of ramparts. But the setting is the thing: rolling Northumberland farmland, stone walls, the Tyne below, and on a clear day views far to the north and south.
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 162 km into the recorded legs. Next is Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha closes the day.
Leg by leg
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha to Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha → Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The is 37 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 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti to Haltonchesters Roman fort
Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti → Haltonchesters Roman fort is 32 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Haltonchesters Roman fort to back through Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti
Haltonchesters Roman fort → back through Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Seatsides 1 Roman temporary camp and secti to back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The
back through 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 Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha
back through Hadrian's Wall & vallum from A6071 to The → Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Ha is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.