13 Aug 2014. <GB-ENG> Henshaw, Northum; Gilsland; Lanercost, Cumbr —
Today we woke up in the
caravan park to the sound of one of our neighbours being towed off slushy ground. Luckily this was not to be our fate! We set up our van for the next week or so, and asked the proprietor where the best part of Hadrian's Wall was. He gave us good directions to
Steel Rigg, about a mile to the east of where we were. We parked at the car park there and walked about 2 to 2½ miles of the wall. This is where the wall is at its most spectacular, built on a ridge but climbing up and down hills on the way — as we did! On the way, there's another bonus — do you remember the film "Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves" with Kevin Costner? ... and the scene, soon after he lands back in England from the Holy Lands, where his Moorish companion meets up with him
under a tree — well this tree is in this stretch of Hadrian's Wall! A fellow rambler kindly took our picture there!
At Robin Hood's Tree
The path had its
ups and downs!
Warren at the Wall
Birdoswald
Walking the wall
Gate to Milecastle 49
After our morning's exercise, we went on to
Birdoswald Roman Fort, about 20 minutes further west. This is a strange site, in that the Roman Fort's site has since been used for a native Briton settlement, one of the Roman granaries being converted into a mead-hall. The theory is that the later Roman soldiers had been recruited from the locals, and it is they who continued to inhabit the fort once the 'Romans' officially left.
It is known that
Robert the Bruce raided this area in the early 1300s, but the history round this period is rather confused.
In the 16th century,
rievers (border robbers and bandits) would attack this area, and the Tweddles who lived here then constructed a tower house in self defence, using part of the old Roman fort. (The Tweddles were themselves most probably rievers!)
Later on, an 18th and 19th century building was constructed here. All this is to say that the archaeology here is mixed and complicated — but that's what archaeology is all about!
One thing we learned here is that Hadrian's Wall, which today looks rather feeble, much of it being only about waist high or little more, used to be about 15 feet high (4-4½ metres), but that over the years most of it has been robbed for stone to build castles and farm fences. If you picture if in its full glory, it's amazing what the Romans were able to do on the extreme edges of their empire. And, on a purely economic note, it cost very little to build — the stone was quarried virtually on site, and the workmen — well, the soldiers were there anyway, and were already being paid, and had the skills, so why not use them?
Anyway, we explored this site, learning much, and then set off for
Lanercost Priory, again only about 20 minutes westwards. This is an Augustinian monastery that suffered under the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.
This one, however, fared better than most — although the chancel and the transepts were unroofed and have fallen into ruin, the nave remained intact, and is now a functioning parish church. They have put windows into the eastern end of the nave, looking out onto the ruin of the chancel, which has become almost part of the current church because of this.
A sad little memorial
The old priory is on the lines of many we have seen before, but constructed from this wonderful red sandstone (which we noticed in Carlisle when we went there later in the day).
It has now become the home of numerous swallows, which were flying in and out as we explored the site,
The next item on our agenda was to get into Carlisle, find a supermarket so we could stock up, and then get out to a site we could settle in for the night. As we were going in, Susie noticed a little side road well off an intersection on the A695, so we came back here for a private and quiet night.
Distance driven — today, 36 miles ( 58 km ); to date, 5,754 miles ( 9,261 km )
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