Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp and Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
136 km
Riding-time estimate
2 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.
136 km from Birtley to Birtley, about 2 h 11 of riding. On the way it passes Lees Hall Roman camp, Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and, Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl and back through Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and. It was put together for the scenery rather than the shortest line.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp
Limestone Corner is the most northerly point on Hadrian's Wall, and it is famous for a job left unfinished. The Romans dug a defensive ditch in front of the Wall along most of its length, but here they hit a band of hard whinstone, and after cutting some of the huge blocks free and splitting others with wedges, they simply gave up. The blocks still lie where they were left, some with the holes for the wedges visible, nearly nineteen centuries later. Nearby, the earthworks of a Roman temporary camp, where troops on the move once pitched their tents behind a ditch and bank, are part of the same Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp is where the day begins. Next is Lees Hall Roman camp.
2. Lees Hall Roman camp
Haltwhistle likes to call itself the centre of Britain, a claim measured with some creativity, and it is certainly the middle of Hadrian's Wall country, a small market town on the South Tyne where the river valley narrows between the Pennines and the Wall crags. Lees Hall Roman camp is one of the temporary camps the army threw up while building the Wall or on campaign, a rectangle of bank and ditch now softened by grass. These marching camps were quick, practical affairs, ploughed flat in many places, and what survives is mostly a faint earthwork seen best in low evening light.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Lees Hall Roman camp comes up about 19 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and.
3. Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and
Brampton is a small market town at the foot of the North Pennines, and just north of it, the line of Hadrian's Wall crosses the low country between the Irthing and the Eden. On this stretch, the stone wall itself has mostly vanished, robbed for building material over the centuries, but the line can still be traced in places through fields and hedgerows, along with the vallum, the great earthwork ditch the Romans dug just south of the wall. Parts of the wall in this sector were first built of turf, and only later rebuilt in stone, which is one reason why so little survives here.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 41 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and. Next is Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl.
4. Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl
West of Carlisle, Hadrian's Wall heads out across flat farmland toward the Solway Firth, and the closer you get to the estuary, the quieter it becomes. Along this stretch, the wall itself has largely gone, robbed for stone over the centuries, but the vallum, the wide ditch with its mounds that ran behind it, can still be traced in places, and the line passes the sites of Roman forts and the civilian settlements that grew up around them. At Stanwix, now a suburb on the north bank of the Eden, stood the largest fort on the whole wall, home to a cavalry regiment of a thousand men. Further west, at Burgh by Sands, another fort lies beneath the village and its fortified church, built partly with Roman stone.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp closes the day.
Leg by leg
Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp to Lees Hall Roman camp
Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp → Lees Hall Roman camp is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Lees Hall Roman camp to Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and
Lees Hall Roman camp → Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and to Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl
Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and → Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl is 26 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl to back through Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and
Hadrian's Wall vallum between the dismantl → back through Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and to back through Lees Hall Roman camp
back through Hadrian's Wall between Eden Vale house and → back through Lees Hall Roman camp is 22 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Lees Hall Roman camp to Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp
back through Lees Hall Roman camp → Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp is 19 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.