[Frontispiece: THIRLWALL CASTLE, BUILT OF WALL-STONES, HERE THE
SCOTTS THIRLED (_i.e._ PIERCED) THE WALL]
HADRIAN'S WALL
BY JESSIE MOTHERSOLE
WITH FOURTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS
BY THE AUTHOR MAPS & PLANS
JOHN LANE THE BODLEY HEAD LIMITED
LONDON VIGO STREET W.1
First Published ... October 1922
Second Edition .... December 1922
Third Edition ..... December 1924
MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY MORRISON AND GIBB LTD., EDINBURGH
_BY THE SAME AUTHOR_
THE ISLES OF SCILLY : Their Story,
Their Folk, and their Flowers
With 26 Plates in Colour
THE SAXON SHORE
Illustrated in Colour and Black & White
{v}
PREFACE TO THIRD EDITION
Since the first appearance of this book, a very important event has
occurred in the history of Hadrian's Wall. It has been definitely
recognized as a monument of national importance, to be scheduled and
protected under the authority of the Office of Works. This means
that owners and occupiers of the lands over which it extends will be
powerless to interfere with it, unless by the authority of the
Department, and that they will be liable for the repair of any damage
that may be done to it.
It is not too much to say that this marks the greatest epoch in the
history of the Wall since, at the end of the fourth century, it
ceased to be garrisoned, and was allowed to fall into disrepair.
Neglect or wanton destruction fell to its share for fourteen hundred
years. Now the Office of Works has set the seal on the tireless
efforts of Mr. John Clayton and Dr. Collingwood Bruce, who would
indeed have rejoiced to see this day.
* * * * * * *
Important discoveries have been made at several {vi} points along the
line of the Wall during the last three years.
The site of the fort at Burgh-by-sands was definitely located by Mr.
W. G. Collingwood, F.S.A., and Mr. R. G. Collingwood, F.S.A., in
1922. Since 1903, when the main road was "up" for drainage purposes
and no Roman remains were found, the very existence of the fort had
been questioned.
But excavation has resulted in the discovery of the east gate, lying
just north of Hadrian's Wall, on the edge of the main road, which
represents roughly the _via principalis_. Stone barrack-buildings
were also traced, running north and south, and the fort was proved to
have lain across the line of Hadrian's Wall, as did Cilurnum. The
main road is a cutting, below the level of any Roman remains. The
stones of some of the fort walls had rotted so completely that the
spade cut quite through them, and thus my scepticism about "perishing
stones" in the neighbourhood was rebuked (p. 207). The Church at
Burgh probably occupies the site of one of the central buildings,
perhaps of a granary, the massive stones from which would be very
handy for the Church-builders.
Hadrian's Wall was found to join the main road a little to the east
of the Vicarage, from which point the road is laid partly on the
Wall's {vii} foundations, and partly on its berm, up to the junction
of Wall and fort.
A site known as Old Castle, about 200 yards eastward from the fort,
marks the position of the mediæval castle of Sir Hugh de Morville,
built, no doubt, of stones from the Wall and fort. The remains of a
small Roman bridge, which carried the Military Way over the Powburgh
Beck, are to be seen some 300 yards east of the Old Castle.
At Rudchester, Mr. Parker Brewis, F.S.A., has directed excavations of
the fort of Vindobala. It was found to be similar in plan to
Cilurnum, lying across the Wall, and with six gates. Three out of
the five chambers of the headquarters buildings were uncovered,
including the Chapel of the Standards with the treasury beneath; and
there was also found the largest granary yet known in the north of
England.
Both portals of the double west gate, and also the west portal of the
south gate, were found to have been built up as early as the middle
of the second century.
The Excavation Committee of the Society of Antiquaries of
Newcastle-on-Tyne, appointed in February 1924, has been enlarged into
"The North of England Excavation Committee," which hopes to open up
other sites on the Wall during 1925, with Mr. Parker Brewis still as
Director. A detailed {viii} report of the work at Rudchester will
shortly be published.
Below Birdoswald, Dr. R. C. Shaw, of Manchester University, is, as I
write, completing the excavation of the bridge over the Irthing,
referred to on page 163. No trace has been discovered of any western
abutment, and it has therefore presumably been washed away by the
strong current of the river; but on the eastern side a whole series
of abutments has been uncovered. The course of the river is now much
farther west than it was in Roman times, and it was evidently
necessary in their day to rebuild the abutments farther and farther
west as the river receded in that direction.
The remains of these abutments are most impressive, and Hadrian's
Wall has been found standing up to nine courses of stones.
The stages of the work appear to be as follows:
I. A very interesting feature, and one likely to give rise to much
discussion, is the discovery of a 10-foot thick wall, of earlier date
than the Great Wall, and ending in an abutment which is also 10 feet
thick. The bridge starting from this abutment could only have been
wide enough to carry the rampart-walk. Farther inland this wall has
been found to a height of one or two courses of stone above the
foundations.
II. Here a wall of superior masonry, of the {ix} character usually
associated with Hadrian's Wall, has been built, 7½ feet wide, on the
lower courses of the earlier wall, the original wall having been
allowed to remain near the water. The new wall was found to be
accompanied by a road about 14 feet wide, which was carried up to an
abutment of large masonry blocks--re-used material, apparently taken
from the breastwork of the earlier abutment. The road has a gravel
surface and a foundation of cobbles.
III. A tower, larger than the one at Chesters, was built on the top
of the aforesaid road-abutment. Of its two floor-levels, the
earlier, of clay, was Hadrianic or Antonine, later than the Wall, and
earlier than the late Antonine rising. The second floor, of sand,
was also probably second century, the two floors agreeing
approximately with what are known as the 1_a_and 1_b_ levels.
A new length of wall, westwards towards the river, was added when the
tower was built, the abutment was reconstructed, and buttressed on
the south side by a massive tapering breastwork.
IV. Possibly a rectangular abutment was added to the face of the
tapering breastwork, but this phase is not yet clear.
V. A very massive curved abutment and a Water-pier, with stone
pavement between them, were constructed still farther west, forming
an open {x} sluice. The character of this work suggests the time of
Severus or later in the third century.
VI. The open sluice was filled with gravel and stones, sealed down
with a layer of lime; probably in the fourth century.
Since the work is still in progress, these notes can only indicate
the stage reached up to 17th November 1924.
Dr. Shaw has also excavated two Wall-turrets, one behind the byre of
Willowford farm-house, which has been left uncovered, and another
nearer Gilsland. The Wall was found to have been thickened to 10
feet in width in the neighbourhood of the turrets.
* * * * * * *
The question has often been raised as to whether it is better to walk
the Wall from east to west (as I did) or from west to east. I am an
"East-to-Wester" all the time. It is far pleasanter to end the walk
on the seashore of a picturesque fishing-village than in the smoky
suburbs of a great industrial city.
And has not the trend of humanity always been westward? ... "A kind
of _heavenly_ destiny," says Wordsworth in his "Stepping Westward."
It is almost certain that the Romans worked westward in building the
Wall. As their first fine enthusiasm began perhaps to wane, they
found {xi} it necessary to call in the help of tribes from Devon and
Cornwall, and from near London, and also of men of the fleet.
Inscribed stones have been found at Netherby near Carlisle, and at
Triermain near Birdoswald, giving evidence that men of the _Classis
Britannica_ worked on the Wall at the western end; and other stones,
at Holmhead and at Howgill, give the names of two southern tribes,
the Dumnonii and the Catuvellauni, suggesting that they also helped
at this end.
* * * * * * *
Following Dr. Collingwood Bruce, I have called the road from
Newcastle to Carlisle "Wade's Road." This is a mistake, for General
Wade died in 1748, as his monument in Westminster Abbey shows, and
the road was not made until 1753. The Act of Parliament authorizing
it was passed in 1750.
* * * * * * *
In conclusion, I must add a few words about the purpose of the Wall.
On page 23, I have said: "No one ever doubts what it was meant to be
or to do." This is true, in the sense that the Wall, in its perfect
condition, would cry aloud to all comers, "Thus far and no farther."
It was essentially a _barrier_. But the old idea that it was
intended to be used as a _fighting-ground_ is exploded. It had been
built two centuries before the Romans could have practised
bow-and-arrow warfare, such as Kipling describes in "Puck of Pook's
Hill." The {xii} auxiliaries were then armed only with the usual
short sword and heavy throwing-spear, quite unsuitable weapons for
warfare from a wall; and the width of the Wall was insufficient for
the use of catapults and ballistæ.
No; the Wall was an elevated sentry-walk, a continuous look-out
tower; it was a guarantee that no one could enter Roman territory
without Roman permission. When the sentries on the Wall gave warning
of an attack from the north, the cohorts from the forts would not
line up on the Wall; they would fling wide the northern gates, and
march out to meet the enemy in the open. The whole question is very
interestingly discussed in an article on "The Purpose of the Roman
Wall," by Mr. R. G. Collingwood, in No. VIII. of _The Vasculum_.
{xiii}
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
CHAPTER I
THE MESSAGE OF THE WALL
"_Forma mentis æterna._"--TACITUS.
There is no doubt that this great Roman Wall, from Tyne to Solway,
this mighty relic of a mighty people, gains a wonderful hold on the
affections of those who follow its course, stirring the imagination
and quickening the pulses in a way that could hardly be expected from
a mere crumbling ruin. All who have learnt to know and to love it
will admit this; it unites them all in one common bond; though built
to place a barrier between the dwellers of the north and the south,
certainly nowadays it draws many of them closer together! What is
the secret of this attraction? The fact that the Wall is the
mightiest antiquity of Britain is not of itself sufficient to account
for the glamour it sheds. We must seek a more subtle reason; and the
true {2} source of its attraction is that it stands for a great ideal.
As we follow it in its unfaltering course from sea to sea, and mark
how bravely it has withstood the ravages of time and the hand of the
destroyer, it dawns upon us that it stands for something permanent,
something eternal, something in the very nature of man which can
never die. We see that these stones, of Wall, and Fort, and Castle,
are signs of the strength and endurance, the discipline, obedience
and devotion to duty of the men who conceived the whole idea, and of
the men who carried out the conception.
Although it is now definitely ascertained that Hadrian built the
Wall, yet we must go back to Agricola for the source of the
inspiration. It was he who laid the foundations of a righteous Roman
rule in Britain. It was he who saw that the petty chieftains of the
southern parts must be educated to sink their differences, and to
unite in allegiance to the Roman Empire. It was he who, by his own
disinterested and unselfish conduct, gave to the British chiefs an
example of public-spirited loyalty to principle which was a thousand
times more valuable than precept.
And it was he who built the first line of Forts from Tyne to Solway.
As I followed the Wall, this was the refrain which repeated itself
over and over again in my {3} ears, and echoed in the streets of the
deserted forts: these words of Tacitus which form part of the tribute
paid by a distinguished son to his distinguished father:
"Only the fashion of the soul remains."
Yes, the Wall is a ruin; the "defenced cities" have become "heaps";
and the might and glory of Rome have long been laid in the dust; but
the great and good qualities of men like Agricola and Hadrian shine
down the ages, and remain a source of inspiration and of strength for
ever.
Agricola was the finer character, and he had the advantage of
escaping the temptations which imperial dignities bring; but in
Hadrian, also, we see that devotion to a sense of duty, that clear
perception of justice, that wisdom in administration, which are of
the qualities that endure, and leave their mark on future ages.
"Only the fashion of the soul remains."
The aim of both Agricola and Hadrian was to convert Britain into a
peaceful and self-governed Roman province. Their incentive was the
love of an ideal. Each had a vision of stability and unity; but
whereas Agricola's direct endeavour was to absorb and Romanize the
whole island, Hadrian chose to consolidate rather than to extend. In
helping the Britons south of the Wall line to keep out the raiding
Caledonians, and encouraging them {4} to settle down, undisturbed, to
peaceful agricultural and industrial pursuits, he hoped that in time
the leaven of this higher ideal would spread north to the farthest
limits of the island.
And with this aim the Wall was built.
In all ages the building of walls has marked a stage of advance in
the evolution of human character, in so far as it has meant a
progress from the offensive to the defensive position.
In ancient Persia, the great reformer Zarathusthra condemned the
raiding lives of the nomads, and held up the purer ideal of a
peaceable and industrious community, dwelling within walls, and
living on the fruit of their labour. Tradition says that he was
slain by a resentful nomad on the steps of a temple, and thus he gave
his life for his ideal.
History repeats itself. Persia, China, Greece and Rome all built
walls of brick or stone to keep out the enemy, and maintain the
stability of their respective empires. Each had an ideal of unity to
achieve, and sought in this way to promote it.
In our own day, unity is still the ideal. Have we made a great
advance over the methods of our predecessors?
Rome had great qualities, great and good men; yet she fell. What did
she lack? She has left us shining examples of strength, endurance,
courage, justice and devotion to duty. Where did she fail?
{5}
She lacked just what we lack ourselves: the _true idea_ of unity, the
true ideal of universal love, without which all other greatness
"profiteth nothing."
Are we just beginning to learn that the true "walls" which can alone
preserve any nation or empire from destruction or decay, and which do
indeed ensure its stability, are not walls of brick or stone, not
armies, Dreadnoughts, aeroplanes nor submarines, but great moral and
spiritual qualities, high aspirations, an ideal of unity which views
the whole world as one, faced by one common enemy, and sees that,
with the nation as with the individual, true greatness consists in
humility and willingness to serve?
"Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction
within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy
gates Praise."
"Only the fashion of the soul remains."
{6}