Hadrian's Wall and people who love it

So many visitors to the North East head off to the coast and the sandy beaches of Bamburgh and Seahouses. Lovely as that part of the world is they do miss out on some of the more quiet and historic areas of Cumbria and Northumberland. We have already posted extensively about the College Valley which is hidden in the Cheviot Hills and we will, over the next few months be highlighting Hadrian's Wall. You might already have noticed that we have been showcasing Danny Brannigan's pictures on the home page movie but with the forthcoming illuminations on 13th March it is probably time that we talked about other local people who through their work reach out to people far away from here and introduce them to the "Wall".

Joan Thirlaway lives in Gilsland and her website "after the rain" shows a large selection of Wall pictures which you can also purchase. Her blog is here

Enjoy!

We have been looking for ways to try and illustrate the beautiful photographs taken by Danny Brannigan along Hadrians Wall. One of the options is to embed the images as a slide show and this is one for his photographs of Steel rigg.




We hope that you like the pictures.

Military road, Hadrian's Wall

Built by General George Wade in 1745 at the time of Jacobite rebellion, the military road offers a more civilised route between Newcastle and Carlisle. Whilst the heavy traffic ploughs along the A69 below you can drive sedately through this beautiful countryside.

During the summer there is the AD 122 bus service along the military road with drivers who are well aware of the history and will talk about it.The bus connects to railway stations at Carlisle and Newcastle and you can take bikes on both bus and train.
So the next time you are driving alongside the Wall between Hexham and Carlise please remember some of the history.

Two rulers joined across 1,500 years.

Visiting Bewcastle recently we struck by how history repeats itself.

Although well to the north of the Wall at Birdoswald the Romans built Castra Exploratorum at Netherby in the Esk Valley.

1500 years later Queen Elizabeth 1st and her governor took the same stone used by the Romans and built a small squat fort.

Both had the same purpose ...to control the warriors and bandits who would periodically descend from Redesdale and plunder the land. An early sign of Border Reivers indeed.

Hadrian's Wall and the Whin Sill

Surely the Whin Sill was the defining feature of Borders around which Hadrian's Wall was built?

Created when two continental plates collided at least 400 millions ago the Whin Sill is just one reminder of more momentous times past.

The rock here is igneous and harder wearing the more usual limestones, shales and grits. In fact the dolerite which makes up the Sill also gives rise to other well known landscape features across the North of England...eg

High Force and Cauldron Snout.

Epitath for an Emperor

Hadrian might be remembered for building the Wall, but he was much more than just a civil engineer.

As his death was approaching he wrote this

"Little Soul,little wanderer, little charmer,

body's guest and companion,

to what places will you set out for now?

To darkling, cold and gloomy ones -

and you won't make your usual jokes."

Hadrian's bust

Something of a coup for our local museum, Tullie House.

They are showing the original marble bust of Hadrian from the British Museum.


It is of course very familiar as time and again this likeness of Hadrian with "greek" curls is used as his representation.
Three unexpected comments came out though

a.The deep groves in his ear lobes are thought to be indicative of health problems and a sign of authenticity ( being carved from a sitting as opposed to carved from a picture)

b.There was a second identical bust which is now in America.

c. This bust lay undiscovered in a swamp near his Villa at Tivoli.

Hadrian's Wall - was there also a sea wall?

To most people the Wall runs coast to coast. But it was much more than this. Hadrian had extended the Wall down the west coast. Not content with controlling the fords along the Solway he also wanted to control genuine sea traffic as well.

It is possible that there was a sea wall as far south as Ravenglass. Maybe not a proper wall, as that wouldn't have been needed. But certainly

1. A connecting road
2. Maybe a small ditch
3. And of course the regular forts, turrets and mile fortlets.

All in all a much larger civil engineering project than is apparent today.

Lanercost, Hadrian's Wall - Enjoy Holiday Cottages With History

Lanercost is almost a forgotten gem set in the heart of the North Cumbrian countryside. Just a few miles north of the market town of Brampton lies the famous Priory founded in 1165. As is usual for Cumbria a quick visit to Visit Cumbria shows the Priory both at ground level and from the viewpoint of aerial photography. English Heritage also have facts to add to the history.

But researching Lanercost on google also brought up the "chronicle of Lanercost" from 1272 - 1346. It's long and quite dry but goodness me, the detail can be fascinating and allows us to start to see the true depth of the history in this part of the world. As if all that is not enough, there's even the world heritage site of Hadrian's Wall nearby! So if you want to stay in this historic area, you might want to consider renting one of several, luxury Lanercost holiday cottages - just give us a call.

Northumbria Byways are pleased to offer a selection of 6 cottages. These include...

Howard House - A Lanercost cottage that sleeps up to 8 - pictured right

De Botherton - A Lanercost cottage that sleeps 6

Greystoke - One of the Lanercost cottages that sleeps up to 4 persons

Dacre - Another of the Lanercost cottages that sleeps up to 4

How was Hadrian's Wall built?

Alastair Moffat gives us this description of the basic construction

" The core of the Wall was filled by rubble,clay and soil laid between two outer skins of masonry.Lime mortar was used for bonding."

He then talks about the evidence for lime kilns and the dangers of this production process.

Next question regards the height of the wall. At 4 metres high the Romans would have needed scaffolding or ladders. And then there were the mile castles and turrets which were even higher.

Experts are said to have estimated that over 150,000 metres of straight cut wooden poles would have been required.

So between 122 ans 123 AD there must have been an awful lot of trees which were felled.

A real change for the Northumberland landscape.

The Dark Ages - when the Romans left

We've been reading some interesting comparisons between when the Romans left Britain and what happened when , for instance, the Raj left India.

Basically the Roman way of life had become so ingrained that the people of the land associated Romans and their ways with success that after they were gone much of what they did carried on.

People still called themselves by Roman names and many of the Roman habits continued down the years.

We should also say that we have launched a small website just for Hadrian's Wall.

Hadrian's Wall - the Vallum

One aspect of the Hadrian's Wall had puzzled us for some time. There are sections of the wall where the ditch is on the South side. But surely it should be to the North as the Romans were defending against the Celtic tribes.

The answer is, as usual with the Romans, simple but with underlying complexities. The Wall was designed not just to keep out the tribes from the North but also to separate them from their allies to the South.Basically the Romans wanted to create a military zone , looking both South as well as North. As an added advantage it would also help to keep their stores and provisions safe.

One small point, we call the ditch to the South of the Wall a Vallum, but really it is a Fossa.

Size of the Vallum? Well Alastair Moffat in his book on the Wall says

1. 5.4 to 5.9 metres across the top
2. Depth of between 2.6 and 2.9 metres.
3. 2.1 m across at the bottom.

Basically it was designed for steep, 60 degree slopes . The soil and rubble dug out was moved away from the Vallum to avoid infill and was used to create braod berms of 9 to 12 metres in width.

Over time it is probable that the vallum filled up with water to present an even more formidable obstacle.

The Emperor Hadrian

It's funny how as soon as you hear "Hadrian's Wall" ....well everyone thinks of the wall itself but very few people know anything about Hadrian himself. So what was the man like?Well....

1. He lived AD 78 to AD 138.
2. He was a lover of all things Greek and was closely associated with the stoics.He also sported a beard which was both unusual and very Greek.
3. Hadrian was the most travelled of all Roman emperors. Born and brought up in Spain he had a successful military career, mainly as an aide to the Emperor Trajan. His campaigns were mainly in Romania and the middle east ( against the jews and in egypt).
4. The biggest influence in his personal life was a young greek man, Antinous who eventually drowned ,tragically in the Nile. A devasted Hadrian then had Antinous deified.
5. Tremendously ambitious, educated, well travelled but true to the poisonous nature of Roman politics reviled when he died.

Just one other small note we have now launched a small website dedicated to our self catering cottages on Hadrians Wall.

Snippets on Hadrians Wall

Everyone has heard of Hadrians Wall and how it was built to keep the Scots out of England. But the reality is much more complex. We've been reading Alistair Moffat's book "The Wall" and it has turned out to be a much better read than the usual fairly dry and academic works which cover this amazing monument. So a couple of snippets...

First Vindolanda means the "white fort" as apparently the Romans liked to render their buildings and basically whitewash them. There is also the possibility that the wall was either partially or wholly rendered which in turn conjures up the image of an amazing white wall snaking across the ancient british countryside.It would have been totally unique.

Second, yes the wall kept the Scots out ( they weren't scots back then...celts would be a better name). The Wall also separated the tribes from the pennines and lake district from those in the borders. Basically by dividing them it was easier to rule them.

Self catering accommodation near Hadrian's wall

We often get asked what properties we have near to tourist attractions. We always smile when we get asked about Hadrian's wall though. It is 80 miles long and stretches across the whole of England from coast to coast.

Anyway, to answer the question, we currently have 13 holiday houses for rent near to Hadrian's Wall.

Although the majority of these are along the stretch between Corbridge and Brampton it is worth remembering that a lot of our houses in the Pennines and north towards Kielder are also within easy reach.

So, if you have any more questions just telephone or email and we would be delighted to help