Chapter II: Introduction

"You never can bring in a Wall.
Some man or other must present Wall."
_Midsummer Night's Dream._

The idea of a colour-book on Hadrian's Wall was suggested to me by friends in 1914. Then came the Great War, blotting out all thought of work of this kind.

But in 1920 I was taken by these friends along the line of the Wall, and I soon fell a victim to its many attractions. My friends went home; but I found hospitality at the farms and other houses in the neighbourhood, and began to paint at once.

Before long I decided to "walk the Wall" every foot of the way, 73½ miles, from sea to sea, being inspired thereto by the example and the record of William Hutton. Many of my readers will need an introduction to this delightful character, whose book--to which I shall often have occasion to refer--is now out of print.

William Hutton was an archæologist of Birmingham, who in 1801, at the age of seventy-eight, {xiv} travelled alone and on foot "six hundred miles to see a shattered Wall."

He then published an account of the Wall and the walk, written in a very original and interesting style, although, as he tells us, "the _Battledore_, at an age not exceeding six, was the last book I used at school."

"The respectable and amiable Author" (to use the words of contemporary critics) started from Birmingham with his daughter; but since she rode on a pillion behind a servant, and he went on foot, they can hardly be said to have "accompanied" each other. They used to meet at the inns, for dinner, bed and breakfast; and at Penrith they parted, she making her way to Keswick and the Lakes, he to Carlisle and his beloved Wall.

He sent his daughter two notes during his Wall journey: the first from Carlisle, in which he said he was sound in body, shoe and stocking, and had just risen from a lodging among fleas; the second, from Newcastle, when he wrote (to quote her words) "that he had been at the Wall's End; that the weather was so hot he was obliged to repose under hedges; and that the country was infested with thieves: but, lest I should be under any apprehensions for his personal safety, he added they were only such as demolished his idol, the Wall, by stealing the stones of which it was composed."

Of his aim in writing his book, he thus speaks:

{xv}

"I would enliven truth with the smile, with the anecdote; and while I travel the long and dreary Wall, would have you travel with me, though by your own fireside; would have you see and feel as I do; and make the journey influence your passions as mine are influenced."

There is no doubt that his enthusiasm is infectious, and that whoever follows the Wall in the same spirit as he did, will not find it a "long and dreary" journey.

For myself, I was fascinated by it; I enjoyed every step of the way; and the pictures of the Wall which are here reproduced are the fruit of many happy days spent in its company.

Owing to present conditions, the original idea of a colour-book was dropped, for something more portable and less costly, so the number of illustrations in colour is limited to six, instead of the twenty-five I had prepared; and of the remaining nineteen, only eight appear in monochrome.

In one sense I did not walk the Wall alone. I had two companions, William Hutton and Dr. Collingwood Bruce. The latter was represented by his _Handbook_ on the Wall, which was first published in 1863, and which has proved its value by having appeared, in seven successive editions, as the standard work on the subject. Dr. Bruce and Mr. John Clayton will always be remembered as the great pioneers of practical research on the Wall.

{xvi}

I owe much to the kindness of Mr. F. Gerald Simpson, who hopes to return to active work on the Wall next year (at Birdoswald), and who is my authority on many points in the archæology of the Wall which his recent excavations have brought to light. Much is waiting to be done, but the adequate prosecution of the work in the future will depend entirely on how much financial help is forthcoming from those interested in historical research.

I was very fortunate in falling in with the Three Days' Pilgrimage of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and the Cumberland and Westmorland Archæological Society, and in being allowed to join it, in September 1920; and I have to thank the members for their kind welcome to a stranger, and for their readiness to help me. In this connection I must specially mention Mrs. T. H. Hodgson, Mr. Robert Blair, F.S.A., and Mr. W. G. Collingwood, F.S.A.

_Archæologia Æliana_, issued yearly by the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and the annual _Transactions_ of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society have been of the greatest service as works of reference. To the former I am also indebted for the plans of the Roman Bridge and of Cilurnum and Borcovicium (Figs. 6, 8, and 12).

From the work entitled _Romano-British Buildings and Earthworks_, by the late Mr. John Ward, {xvii} F.S.A., the author and the publishers (Messrs. Methuen & Co.) have kindly allowed me to take Figs. 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14.

Readers who wish to study the latest discoveries with regard to the Vallum will find them in the recently published _The Purpose and Date of the Vallum and its Crossings_, by Mr. F. Gerald Simpson and Dr. R. C. Shaw (Titus Wilson, Kendal). It forms part of vol. xxii. of the Transactions of the Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archæological Society, but it can also be obtained separately.

For those who do not care to walk all the way, and who wish to see a great deal of the Wall in a short time, the George Inn at Chollerford makes a delightful centre. It stands on the bank of the North Tyne, with well-kept gardens sloping down to the water's edge, just where a five-arched stone bridge crosses the river. The bridge dates from 1771, the year when every bridge over the Tyne except the one at Corbridge was swept away by heavy floods.

Chollerford is only 21 miles by road from Newcastle, and the road runs on the Wall foundations nearly all the way. The little station of Humshaugh, on the branch-line from Hexham, is quite close to the _George_.

For motorists an excellent plan is to make the {xviii} _George_ their headquarters and thence to visit the Fort of Cilurnum at Walwick Chesters. Then to travel by car along Wade's Road, noting the points of interest _en route_, until the entrance to Housesteads (Borcovicium) is reached. Here the car must be left and the fort examined. The walk thence along the mural ridge can be made long or short according to inclination. Tracks run down to Wade's Road at frequent intervals--at Milking Gap, Peel, Caw Gap and Pilgrims' Gap (by the Haltwhistle Burn). From Borcovicium to Pilgrims' Gap would be a walk of nearly 6 miles along the Wall ridge; so for those who do not care to walk so far on rough ground, a better plan would be to send the car on to Bradley farm-house and to descend to the road by Milking Gap; travel by car to Peel and examine the fine remains of Wall there; return to the car for another 2½ miles along Wade's Road, and then walk up by the Haltwhistle Burn to examine the Cawfields mile-castle and the Wall in its neighbourhood.

Gilsland is the best centre for visiting, not only the Fort of Amboglanna, at Birdoswald, but also the Nine Nicks of Thirlwall and Thirlwall Castle, and the site of the Fort of Magna at Carvoran. There is very good accommodation at Gilsland. From Birdoswald, cars can travel actually on the line of the Wall as far as the village of Banks, near which, at Hare Hill, the highest piece of Wall {xix} yet standing is to be seen. The road journey can be continued past Lanercost Priory through Brampton to Carlisle, whence road and Wall run close together, for the most part, all the way to Bowness, where the Wall ends; but only the pedestrian can examine it thoroughly.

Those who prefer to travel by train can easily visit the Wall in sections, making Hexham, Gilsland and Carlisle their headquarters. On the line between Newcastle and Carlisle, Fourstones is the station for visiting Cilurnum; Haydon Bridge for Sewingshields; Bardon Mill for Vindolanda and Borcovicium; Haltwhistle for Æsica and Winshields; Greenhead for Thirlwall Castle and the Nine Nicks; Gilsland for Amboglanna; and Naworth for Lanercost and Banks.

{xxi}

CONTENTS

CHAP.

Preface to Third Edition

Introduction

I. The Message of the Wall

II. Historical

III. Descriptive

IV. The Vallum

V. The Walk: Wallsend to Walbottle

VI. Walbottle to East Wallhouses

VII. Hunnum and St. Oswald's

VIII. Brunton and The Roman Bridge

IX. Cilurnum

X. Walwick to Sewingshields

XI. Sewingshields to Housesteads

XII. Housesteads to Peel Crag

XIII. Peel Crag to Walltown

XIV. Walltown to Gilsland

{xxii}

XV. Gilsland To Lanercost

XVI. Lanercost To Bleatarn

XVII. Bleatarn To Grinsdale

XVIII. Grinsdale To Drumburgh

XIX. Drumburgh To Bowness

XX. Vindolanda, Corstopitum, Bewcastle

Conclusion

Index

{xxiii}

LIST OF PLATES

IN COLOUR

1. Thirlwall Castle ... _Frontispiece_

2. North Gate of Housesteads Mile-castle

3. The Wall on Peel Crag

4. Thorny Doors Gap

5. The Wall Overhanging the Irthing

6. View looking South from Amboglanna

IN MONOCHROME

7. The Wall from Cuddy's Crag

8. The Bath-house at Cilurnum

9. The Basalt Cliffs above Crag Lough

10. North Gate, Borcovicium

11. Crag Lough from Milking Gap

12. Castle Nick Mile-Castle

13. Peel Crag, from the Gap

14. The Roman Milestone on the Stanegate

MAPS

Contour of Wall-ridge

Map of Hadrian's Wall

{xxiv}

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT

FIG.

1. Section of the Wall and Vallum

2. Comparative Plans of Mile-castle and Wall-turret

3. Sections of Vallum in Three Stages

4. Roman Head from Benwell Hill

5. Roman Altar from Rudchester

6. Plan of Roman Bridge near Cilurnum

7. Lewis for Lifting Stones

8. Plan of Fort of Cilurnum

9. Fortification Turrets from Trajan's Column

10. Fortification Gates from Trajan's Column

11. Gate of Fort on Mosaic, Avignon Museum

12. Plan of Fort of Borcovicium

13. Cross-Section of Fort Wall

14. Comparative Plans of Fort Gates

{xxv}

LIST OF FORTS ON THE WALL WHOSE ANCIENT NAME IS KNOWN.

Miles Great Wall joins its
Fort. Modern Name. between. Size. Gates. Troops stationed there. Wall.

Segedunum Wallsend -- 3½ acres 4 4th Cohort Lingones North Jamb of W. gateway

Pons Aelii Newcastle 4 ? 4 1st Cohort Cornovii ?

Condercum Benwill Hill 2¼ ? 4 1st Ala Asturians Midway

Vindobala Rudchester 7 3½ acres 6 1st Cohort Frixagi (Frisii) "

Hunnum Halton Chesters 7½ 4¼ " 4 Ala Saviniana "

Cilurnum Walwick Chesters 6 5¼ " 6 2nd Ala Asturians "

Procolitia Carrawburgh 3½ 3½ " 4 1st Cohort Batavians North Rampart

Borcovicium Housesteads nearly 5 n'ly 5 " 4 1st Cohort Tungrians " "

Vindolanda Chesterholm -- 3¼ acres 4 4th Cohort Gauls Lies 1 mile south of
Great Wall

Æsica Great Chesters 5½ 3 " 4 1st Cohort Asturians North rampart

Magna Carvoran 2½ 3½ " 4 2nd Cohort Dalmatians Lies to south of both
Wall and Vallum

Amboglanna Birdoswald 3¼ 5½ " 6 1st Cohort Dacians North rampart

46½ miles from Wallsend.

{xxvii}

HADRIAN'S WALL

{1}

HADRIAN'S WALL