Hadrian's Wall Path #2: Heddon on the Wall to Chesters 20/05/14

Self at Heddon on the Wall

A satisfyingly huge Sunday dinner, and legs that felt like they needed an extra day of rest meant that the superb weather of Monday was not put to walking use, and dropping a day like this one is always a pity, even if you can find other entertaining distractions to fill your day, so for the day off we took a visit to the Corbridge Roman town, named Coria or Corstopitum, or some other variant depending on who you listen to. Only half a mile outside the contemporary settlement at the crossing point of Dere Street and Stanegate, it's an excellent example of a Roman town growing out of a 1st century AD military encampment that predated Hadrian's Wall into a significant urban centre that lasted for three centuries, before retreating into the landscape to be rediscovered in the 20th. It also shows up the fact that regardless of how grand a settlement may have been, the fragments that remain will often be of the most mundane parts, like the granary cellars, the drainage and cistern, and the military strong room, giving a sense of the basic nuts and bolts of Roman living. Additionally, unearthed inscriptions illustrate the sheer range of peoples that travelled and worked with the Roman empire, with Coria having been built and operated by people from such remote corners as Syria, Algeria and Romania, which proves that movement of labour in Europe is an ancient and historical phenomenon, not something to be considered as a modern evil perpetrated by the EU. Seriously folks, getting a Sense of History will expand your mind, and decrease your prejudices.

Hadrian's Wall Path #2: Heddon on the Wall to Chesters  16.3 miles

The Military Road &
the North Ditch, Heddon

Tuesday does not look like Monday, the sunshine has been replaced by a heavy mist and palpable dampness in the air, but no rain or much wind thankfully, and it's into this glum shroud that I step from my parents car in the yard of the Three Tuns in Heddon on the Wall at 9.55am, aiming for another six hour window of wandering. My route leads me out onto the B6318, the Military Road which stretches off into the distance arrow-straight, suggesting all the characteristics of a Roman road, but actually only dating from 1746, built in the wake of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745, when the invading army had bypassed the English army stationed in Newcastle and had assaulted the smaller force at Carlisle. Built under the auspices of General Wade, to link the northern garrisons on the and west coasts it follows the course of Hadrian's Wall almost exactly from Newcastle to Sewingshields, high on the moors, in many places resting on the wall foundations and having used its stonework as hardcore. An act of grotesque historical vandalism to a contemporary perspective, but one slightly more understandable from the 18th century, considering that two armed rebellions against the British government had come out of Scotland in the preceding 30 years and a major military pacification campaign was being directed into the Highlands, and a major piece of military engineering was already extent in the landscape, while little interest was to be taken in classical antiquities in Britain until the following century. Today it may be a B-road, but it's not to be messed with, acting as a rat run for traffic wishing to avoid the A69, and particularly the number of quarry lorries makes you keen to get away from the roadside path as quickly as possible, not too easily along the initial stretch.


Vindobala Fort

After having had a 100m+ section of wall to enjoy at Heddon, there will be little of note that isn't earthworks for much of today, meaning that a look over the roadside wall to look into the north ditch will have to be our initial point of interest and I feel that a few terms of interpretation are needed for the uninitiated. Basically the Wall was just part of a Roman military border zone, with the north ditch above the wall, and the southern boundary marked by the Vallum, a deep ditch enclosed by embankments, allowing free access behind the full length of the wall. Additionally, there were milecastles at every mile along its full length to allow access and the garrison troops, with two turrets equally spaced between each of them, with major forts established at regular intervals for garrison and supply purposes. All this can become visibly apparent once the detour has been made around the A69, dropping into fields to see a long stretch of the vallum ditch stretching uphill, and the wall foundations supporting the Military Road, and my archaeological map suggests that this is the location of Milecastle 13, but all that looks visible to me is a few stones beneath the turf, and I get the feeling that any masonry fragments along here are going to be pretty insubstantial. I catch up with the other pairs of walkers getting a early start out of Heddon, as we head into the trees around Rudchester farm and do not mistake the dry stone walls as being something ancient, but look instead to the large enclosure that we are compelled to walk around, the site of Vindobala fort. The fourth one inland from Segedunum and largely concealed beneath turf, making an interpretation of the site difficult, but ensuring the archaeology is well protected, having had only two relatively minor excavations during the 20th century, this is one for the purists and not the tourists. 


Harlow Hill

I do not linger long, there are far too many miles to go, and the path leads on, offering no visible remnants of wall or ditch as I pace along the field edge by the road, through pasture and wheat, and a long detour around Iron Sign farm, keeping walkers away from the roadside but adding on the miles, and their barn conversion is named Two Hoots, which amuses me no end. Continue along the Military Road, for a short but terrifying few paces, before dropping onto the field boundary again, the switching to the north side of the road after two more fields, for more field path walking, which eventually slips into a deep ditch, which looks like a stretch of the North Ditch to me, even though the path tries to keep you from walking on, or in, the antiquities. Out of the ditch as we approach the access road to Albemarle barracks, and a stretch of field wall has been dug out to expose a foundation base with bonded stones which appears Roman to my eyes, at least, and some military types are to be found digging a probably non-archaeological trench across the path, and they need to be carefully avoided before starting the rise up towards Harlow Hill. There's probably a lot of wall stone squirreled away in this hamlet, once the site of Milecastle 16, now home to a farm, a deconsecrated church and number of holiday homes, and it would probably offer a good view if it wasn't for the shroud of mist around it. Pass through the small wood to its west to descend the hill again, with the Whittledene reservoirs providing the next point of focus, following the north ditch down hill to find a good place to stop for elevenses, and for a bit of twitching if you were so inclined, I'm not seeing a lot of bird life through the mist, but there is a lot of it in the air, the whole county of Northumberland is singing, and I approve, I must say. Head on across the dams, staying on the north edge of the road, taking a look over to Welton Hall farm, with its ruined peel tower at its centre, and greeting the passing walkers as I note more rubble buried in the path, a small fragment of Milecastle 17 perhaps? before the north ditch re-emerges again.

The North Ditch, near Wallhouses farm

That keeps me company all the way up to the cluster of houses at East Wallhouses, and I have to wonder why the perimeter wall of the first of these has a PlayStation and a Nintendo set into it, and this is where we can find the Robin Hood Inn, adorned in retro signage and providing me with my second stamp for my passport, finally giving me a feeling of real progression on my journey. Not stopping for an early lunch or beverage, the path slips into the north ditch for a stretch, before slipping back to the roadside and finally giving me another good look at the vallum on the south side, reappearing into view after hiding for far too long. Dive away from the onrushing traffic and take a detour across the north ditch again, deep and wide enough to need a footbridge to cross it, and for the next few fields, this huge ditch asserts itself as a presence, regardless of how much tree growth has attempted to consume it, a real gem for the fan of the ancient earthworks. A detour is necessary to pass around Wallhouses farm, with a perimeter wall surely constructed from Roman stone, and then it's back to the edge of the north ditch, seemingly getting wider and deeper as we go, I can only assume that such a large feature was easier to leave as it is, rather than attempting to agriculturally reclaim it. At the junction of the road to Matfen, we change sides to the south side, with the map promising us a long stretch of the vallum, but on the ground we only have wheat and heavily ploughed earth, which is disappointing, but if you tune your eagle eye, you can spot the slightest hint of it at the field boundaries, with the rise and fall of the embankment and ditch having not been destroyed by progress. More walkers are encountered, I assume midway through their eastward stretch, and a couple are followed for a long way as the path ascend the roadside up to Halton Shields farm, another spot for a good elevated view, again spoiled by mist.

The Vallum, Down Hill

The path crests at Carr Hill farm, and as the road descends the southern fields show up massive amounts of the ditches and embankments of the vallum, all land that has been thankfully unenclosed for the last few centuries, only to be utilised by sheep and walkers and it's another opportunity to feel like you are stepping far back in time. Crossing a wall stile, you can look back and get a full impression of the full width and scale of the Roman border zone, stretching from the north ditch, across the Military Road standing in place of the wall and across to the vallum, it does not take the largest leap of imagination to make this appear in much the fashion of any contemporary frontier, isolating the peoples from the border and placing it firmly in the control of a higher power. The vallum is followed as it moves around Down Hill, downhill, maintaining impressively scaled earthworks, even where quarrying has occurred over the later centuries, and a few remnants of the wall apparently remain in the woods which the Military Way has avoided by taking a shallower route downhill, but unfortunately it's not directly accessible, so I'll have to leave that for another time. The path continues down to the roadside again at Halton Red House, continuing along the filed boundary in the direction of an ornate gateway, and only once I am upon it do I recognise as the site of Onnum fort, aka Halton Chesters. Directly north of Coria and situated to access the nearby Dere Street, it's southern half is still largely unexcavated, it's northern hal ploughed away, and as it's been my target point for lunch, I'll stop for much needed food here, at least once I've escaped the breeze, and a 1.30pm stop means I'll be needing to get a move on after pizza time.

The Vallum, near Dere Street

The next section starts with another good stretch of vallum ditch, gradually disappearing into the fields as I seek out any trace of Turret 21b of Milecastle 22 along the boundary wall, but see nothing, rising to meet the roadside again, and running out at the junction with the A68, where the Military Road crosses the Roman road into Caledonia, Dere Street. It would be a good time to pause in the Errington Arms, if just to break away from the mist for a while, but progress must continue, passing over the wall to follow another long stretch of the vallum, for several fields is goes, choked with gorse bushes, meaning that we must be rising to a moorland elevation, and the going changes from impacted farmland to springy moistness. This really is turning into a day for the earthwork enthusiast, showing up a lot more than I hade expected to see, as I had been largely convinced that the military Road has consumed everything of note, but another landscape change comes on as the path moves into Stanley plantation, providing tree cover and awfully boggy going as various routes are picked out among the conifers. Still keeping close to the road of course, so no chance of getting stuck, but you'd think some cover would provide for some better going than this, and such conditions continue through the latter half of the plantation too, but a view out beyond suggests a lot of moorland grass on the surrounding pasture, and I'm sure views into wild Northumberland should be seen off to the north, but the mist is still persistent.

The North Ditch, near St Oswald's farm

Past the last field of trees and the last identifiable length of Vallum that I'll be accompanying along this side of the road, and an earthwork by the wall can be identified as Milecastle 24, as it suggests the right sort of profile and looks the right sort of height, and a hurrah goes up for finding a notable wall remnant, even if is still encased in turf. Cross the Military Road again, back to the north side, and resume the walk along the north ditch, another section which is easily visible from the main road and identifiable to anyone with a tuned eye as being part of an ancient landscape, the parade of trees on the south side creating its own wall feature. It's a pretty long haul slowly down from the moor top, and it proves a good spot for startling the local sheep, as they act like I'm the first person to come through their pasture in a while, and eventually the path switches to the other side of the north ditch, avoiding more clumps of gorse, with my attention again focussing on the broken wall remnants at the road base, again looking for all the world like Roman foundations. The path comes out at the cluster of houses around St Oswald's farm and tearooms, the first place along the B6318 since Heddon that I can immediately identify as being somewhere that I been before as we stopped here the last time that I was in this corner of the world in 2009. No teas for me today, instead, I'll be moving on down into the pasture by the road known as Heavenfield, a good name for such a pleasing spot, apparently the site of a battle in 634 where a Christian Northumbrian army defeated an invading Heathen Welsh force (any experts of ancient English history feel free to add detail!), and the roadside cross and church on the hillside are both dedicated to the victorious King, (St) Oswald, a notable episode in the history of the kingdom of Northumbria.


Broad Wall meets Narrow Wall,
 at Planetrees

Return to the tracing of the wall, as the path leaves the pasture and starts off down hill through the woods, with a mix of embankments heading downhill and no good indication of whether we are looking at Vallum, ditch or wall foundations, odd that when the Military Road deviates from the wall formation, the remnants become harder to identify. For the first time I am presented with what should be a clear view, as the path starts to descend into the valley of the North Tyne, but the mist gives me only hints of distant hill when I am sure I should be getting a much more impressive panorama. All other walkers along the way are all wearing that face that suggests they wish their day was almost done, and my phone ringing suggests my parents are expecting me to be near the end of mine, 'less than an hour to go', I boldly claim. Crossing the Military road again, we meet a field with some intact Roman wall in it again, known as the Planetrees Wall, it is well preserved and marks an interesting curiosity in all the remains that have endured, for this marks the spot where the Broad Wall, 10ft wide and stretching inland from Segedunum, ended, and the Narrow Wall, 8ft thick and stretching on to the River Irthing started, with the joint point still intact when so much of the wall is missing. No direct evidence has been uncovered for the change in plans, as the foundations were built at full width for both of the originally stone walled sections, but it can be assumed that it was done to save money, resources or time, proving that some economic considerations never really change. Depart the wall to leave it to the resident docile cattle and descend down hill through a wooded section as the routes of the Wall, Military Road and path all start taking different routes down towards the river, and we swing away southwards to avoid the sharp drop on the B6318 along a stretch with no verges.

Brunton Turret (26b)

Down a very quiet and leafy lane we go, behind Brunton House and feeling pretty far from anywhere until it opens out to offer a view of our destination for the day, still quite a ways away across the river, and we almost reach the village of Wall before our route swings back north along the A6097 finally starting the final stretch home. Of course even at this late juncture a detour needs to be made, as off to the east is another well preserved stretch of wall, which also features our first turret remnant of note, 26B Brunton turret, where more casual visitors can visit the antiquities, and I can admire the slabs that have remained in situ, complete with slots and groove from the wearing of the door, another remarkable survival close to civilisation. Back to the road and up to the crossroads by the watermill, and then downhill at a pace through the outer edge of Chollerford, and a pause to ponder visiting the remains of the Roman Bridge over the North Tyne, but it's a bit too far away to add to today's expedition and we've already reported a million bridge abutments this year, so a path is instead taken over the Chollerford bridge, where the North Tyne maintains the massive width that it seems to have from source to mouth along the whole catchment. Pass the George Inn, which I'm sure gets it share of walking traffic, and I set on down the last stretch of the military way towards the Chesters fort complex. I'm sure it's only a couple of hundred yards along, so when my Mum calls, I tell her to wave only to find that she's waving at the people some distance ahead of me. Eventually I roll up, and it is much further down the road than I'd thought, and I'm a little late on the day, 4.15pm, but I did go a mile further than I had projected, so that evens things out a bit, and the shop is still open for me to obtain passport stamp #3, and we can really like we are motoring along now.

Next on the Slate: Onwards to the Northumberland High Moors and the Whin Sill!


1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 1110.2 miles
(2014 total: 197 miles)

(Up Country Total: 1030.8 miles)
(Solo Total: 911.8 miles)
(Declared Total: 902 miles)