The vallum between the road to Garthside a and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra
Plan this ride
Recorded distance
237 km
Riding-time estimate
3 h 27
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.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
237 km from Brampton to Brampton, about 3 h 27 of riding. On the way it passes Stone circle, Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632, Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 and Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. The vallum between the road to Garthside a
Brampton is a small red sandstone market town at the edge of the Pennines, and just north of it, where the land rises toward the Irthing valley, a stretch of the vallum runs across the fields near Garthside. The vallum, the great ditch and banks that ran south of Hadrian's Wall, is often clearer than the wall itself in this area, because the stone of the wall was carried off long ago to build farmhouses, churches and even a priory. It is part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, and it is best seen in low light, when the earthworks cast long shadows.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The vallum between the road to Garthside a is where the day begins. Next is Stone circle.
2. Stone circle
Long before the Romans built their wall across northern England, people were raising stones on these moors. Close to the line of Hadrian's Wall, in the hills north of Haydon Bridge and Haltwhistle, a small prehistoric stone circle stands in the rough grass, a few weathered boulders arranged in a ring, probably dating from the Bronze Age. Its exact purpose is unknown, but circles like this were often used for ceremonies or burials, and many have legends attached to them.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Stone circle comes up about 30 km into the recorded legs. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632.
3. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632
East of Hexham, the Roman frontier crosses gentler country, a rolling landscape of fields, hedges and small woods north of the Tyne valley. Here the Wall itself has mostly disappeared, its stones long since recycled into farmhouses, field walls and the eighteenth-century Military Road that runs along its line. But the vallum, the broad ditch with mounds on either side that marked the southern edge of the military zone, survives in places as a clear earthwork across the fields, and walkers on the Hadrian's Wall Path follow it for miles. This section is part of the same World Heritage site as the dramatic crags further west.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 57 km into the recorded legs you reach Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632. Next is Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2.
4. Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2
Most people picture Hadrian's Wall striding across lonely Northumberland crags. Wall mile 2 is the other end of the story: an urban stretch in the east of Newcastle upon Tyne, where the wall ran from the fort at Wallsend, Segedunum, westwards along the north bank of the Tyne towards the bridge and fort at Pons Aelius, beneath today's city centre. Very little of the wall itself is visible here; terraced houses, roads and shipyards have long since swallowed it. But you are standing on the first miles of a frontier that once ran coast to coast for about eighty Roman miles.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2, about halfway. Next is Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra.
5. Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra
Just east of the point where the A68 crosses the line of Hadrian's Wall, at Portgate, the Romans had a gateway through the frontier for Dere Street, the great road running north from York into Scotland. Today the A68 follows much the same course, and the wall and its vallum run east and west across the fields here, sometimes visible as a bank or a ditch, sometimes buried under the Military Road. A little to the east, the fort of Halton Chesters, known to the Romans as Onnum, lies under the fields, and like the rest of the frontier, this stretch is part of the UNESCO Frontiers of the Roman Empire.
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 comes up about 150 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632.
7. back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 237 km.
Leg by leg
The vallum between the road to Garthside a to Stone circle
The vallum between the road to Garthside a → Stone circle is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Stone circle to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632
Stone circle → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 to Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 → Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 to Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra
Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 → Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra to back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2
Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Sunnybra → back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 is 33 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 to back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632
back through Hadrian's Wall in wall mile 2 → back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 to back through Stone circle
back through Hadrian's Wall and vallum between the B632 → back through Stone circle is 27 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Stone circle to The vallum between the road to Garthside a
back through Stone circle → The vallum between the road to Garthside a is 30 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.