Palisade ditches and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
185 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 05
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.
185 km from Silloth to Silloth, about 3 h 05 of riding. It goes by way of Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel, back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel and back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f. The line favours views over speed.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Palisade ditches
Hadrian's Wall did not simply stop at the edge of the Solway. Beyond its western end at Bowness, the Romans continued the frontier down the Cumbrian coast with a chain of milefortlets and towers, and in places with ditches and palisades, to watch over the shoreline and guard against raids across the firth from what is now south west Scotland. The palisade ditches near Silloth are part of that coastal system, faint traces in the flat land behind the dunes, and they are a reminder that the Roman frontier was a complex network that stretched far beyond the famous stone wall.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palisade ditches is where the day begins. Next is Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f.
2. Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f
West of Carlisle the Eden slows and starts to meander, swinging in wide loops through flat meadows on its way to the Solway, and here at Grinsdale Hadrian's Wall ran along the high ground above the river. It is a gentle, almost secret stretch of countryside, only a few miles from the city but feeling much further. The tiny hamlet of Grinsdale has a church dedicated to St Kentigern, an early saint associated with this region, and a scatter of farms. The Wall has gone, robbed for building stone centuries ago, but the line it followed is clear in the field boundaries and the lie of the land.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f comes up about 34 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
3. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
West of Birdoswald the Wall changes character. The central crags fall behind, the River Irthing loops through its gorge below, and the frontier runs across gentler farmland towards Banks and Hare Hill, where one of the tallest surviving fragments of the Wall still stands, patched by later hands. Here too the vallum, the great earthwork south of the Wall, can be traced across the fields, and the remains of turrets at Banks East and Pike Hill sit right beside the road. It is a quieter stretch than the famous sections further east, and all the better for it.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 64 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel.
4. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Just west of Chollerford the road climbs onto higher ground and the Wall begins to show itself, first as a hump in the fields, then as a ditch and earthwork running alongside the tarmac. This is the central sector of Hadrian's Wall, built from the 120s on the orders of the emperor Hadrian to mark the northern edge of Roman Britain, and the stretch around Carrawburgh is one of the most atmospheric. The vallum, a broad ditch flanked by mounds on the southern side of the Wall, is especially clear here, and it shows the Roman frontier was not just a wall but a whole military zone, with forts, milecastles, turrets, roads and earthworks.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel sits at 135 km, about halfway. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f.
6. back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Palisade ditches closes the day.
Leg by leg
Palisade ditches to Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f
Palisade ditches → Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel is 28 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel to back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the fiel → back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f to Palisade ditches
back through Hadrian's Wall between Grinsdale and the f → Palisade ditches is 34 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.