Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
315 km
Riding-time estimate
5 h 03
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 Haltwhistle it runs 315 km to Haltwhistle; allow about 5 h 03 of riding. It goes by way of Watchclose Roman temporary camp, The Roman fort and associated civil settle, Low Mire and Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s
Long before the wall existed, the Romans ran a road across the narrow neck of northern England, the Stanegate, linking the forts of Corbridge on the Tyne and Carlisle on the Eden. It was built around AD 80, in the time of the general Agricola, and it served as the frontier line for a generation before Hadrian ordered the wall to be built a little to the north. Forts and fortlets sat along it, among them Vindolanda and the small post at Haltwhistle Burn, and temporary camps like the one at Milestone House show where troops stopped on the move.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s is where the day begins. Next is Watchclose Roman temporary camp.
2. Watchclose Roman temporary camp
East of Carlisle, between the villages of Brampton and Wetheral, the countryside rolls gently towards the Pennines, with green fields, hedges and patches of woodland. Somewhere in these fields lie the faint traces of Watchclose, a Roman temporary camp, one of many marching camps built by soldiers on campaign or during the construction of Hadrian's Wall. These camps were enclosed by a ditch and bank and used for a night or a season, and today they are often visible only from the air or as slight undulations in the grass. Watchclose is 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
Watchclose Roman temporary camp comes up about 27 km into the recorded legs. Next is The Roman fort and associated civil settle.
3. The Roman fort and associated civil settle
Bowness-on-Solway is where Hadrian's Wall ends, or begins, depending on which way you are walking. This quiet village on the southern shore of the Solway Firth sits on top of the Roman fort of Maia, the second largest on the Wall, and its civilian settlement, which together make up the site on the label, part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage site. Almost nothing of the fort survives above ground, as much of the stone went into the houses, church and farm buildings of the village, but you can find Roman stones reused in walls if you look closely.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 63 km into the recorded legs you reach The Roman fort and associated civil settle. Next is Low Mire.
4. Low Mire
Low Mire lies in the quiet farmland behind the Cumbrian coast, near Dearham and Maryport, where the land slopes gently down to the Solway Firth and the hills of southern Scotland rise across the water. It is an area of small fields, hedges and scattered farms, with the Lake District fells visible to the south-east on clear days.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Low Mire, about halfway. Next is Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house.
5. 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
about 253 km into the recorded legs you reach back through The Roman fort and associated civil settle. Next is back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 315 km.
Leg by leg
Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s to Watchclose Roman temporary camp
Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s → Watchclose Roman temporary camp is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Watchclose Roman temporary camp to The Roman fort and associated civil settle
Watchclose Roman temporary camp → The Roman fort and associated civil settle is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
The Roman fort and associated civil settle to Low Mire
The Roman fort and associated civil settle → Low Mire is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Low Mire to Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house
Low Mire → Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house to back through Low Mire
Ravenglass Roman fort bath-house → back through Low Mire is 57 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Low Mire to back through The Roman fort and associated civil settle
back through Low Mire → back through The Roman fort and associated civil settle is 38 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through The Roman fort and associated civil settle to back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp
back through The Roman fort and associated civil settle → back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp is 35 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp to Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s
back through Watchclose Roman temporary camp → Milestone House Roman temporary camp and s is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.