The Ham Nomads

12 Aug 2014. <GB-ENG> Corbridge, & Chollerford, Hexham, & Bardon Mill, Hexham, Northum —

Today was Hadrian's Wall day. We first called in to a Sainsbury Local at Ryton, near Newcastle, to stock up. Then we went to a few English Heritage sites on the Wall. We went in turn to Corbridge Roman Town, Chesters Roman Fort and Museum, and Housesteads Roman Fort. All of these are Roman sites on Hadrian's Wall.

Susie at Corbridge

Corbridge was astride the intersection of the Roman Dere Street and Stanegate roads. After Hadrian's Wall was fully commissioned, this fort developed into a prosperous garrison town. The site has been excavated extensively, and has produced among other things, the "Corbridge Horde", a chest buried when the Romans left the site, containing among other things, parts of at least six cuirasses of plate armour (loricae segmentatae), which are one of our main sources of knowledge about this type of Roman armour. Corbridge looks a little strange, as the fort was built over previous fortifications, and the walls we see now have subsided into the ditches of the earlier works, giving a rather roller-coaster appearance!

The path goes on
across the river
from Chesters

Chesters bathhouse

Chesters Roman Fort, about 20 minutes down the road, is more of the same but different! This fort controlled a bridge across the North Tyne at this point, which at the outset probably carried the walkway atop Hadrian's Wall, but which later carried the Military Way, the road that was built alongside the wall in the 160s. There is a bathhouse here that, because it was buried by silt until the 1880s, is possibly the best-preserved Roman building in Britain.

Part of the John Clayton Collection

There is also a museum containing the collection of John Clayton (1792-1890) who had an interest in Roman antiquity. He actually bought up many of the Roman sites on Hadrian's Wall, and started the archaeological examination of them. At the time, Hadrian's Wall was being systematically robbed for stone, and Clayton bought as much as he could of the significant stone artifacts and saved them for posterity. So the museum is both a prime example of a nineteenth century private collection and a significant example of rescue archaeology!

The climb to Housesteads

Warren at Housesteads

The Wall goes on

Yes, it was windy!

We then went on another 20-minute journey, this time to Housesteads Roman Fort ('Vercovicium' to the Romans). This site is managed by both English Heritage and the National Trust, and is a very significant site. When you climb the hill from the visitor centre to the fort itself, you find a huge and very complete site of a fort that commanded a hilltop. This fort was built at Milecastle 37 of the wall (there is a Milecastle every mile for the full length of the wall, numbering from the eastern end). It is near the midpoint of the wall and it is regarded as the 'Grandest Station' along its entire length. It certainly is impressive. The usual impression of a Roman encampment on a flat piece of land is completely overturned here — there are massive slopes within the fort, and yet is still retains the geometric precision in its plans that you see in all Roman forts.

View of the Pictish badlands from Vercovicium

The rain (ex Hurricane Bertha) was on its way, so we set off towards our next point. On the way, we happened on a sign pointing to a camping area, and decided that tonight discretion was the better part of valour — so we turned in here for the night.

Distance driven — today, 54 miles ( 87 km ); to date, 5,718 miles ( 9,203 km )