Northumberland Yesterday And To Day - Jean F. Terry (i want to read a book TXT) 📗

Of Dalmatians At Magna.

 

  The Tribune Of The First Cohort Of Dacians, Styled Aelia, At Amboglanna.

 

  The Prefect Of The _Ala_ Called "Petriana," At Petriana.

 

  The Prefect Of A Detachment Of Moors, Styled Aureliani, At Aballaba.

 

  The Tribune Of The Second Cohort Of The Lingones At Congavata.

 

  The Tribune Of The First Cohort Of Spaniards At Axelodunum.

 

  The Tribune Of The Second Cohort Of The Thracians At Gabrosentum.

 

  The Tribune Of The First Marine Cohort, Styled Aelia, At Tunnocelum.

 

  The Tribune Of The First Cohort Of The Morini At Glannibanta.

 

  The Tribune Of The Third Cohort Of The Nervians At Alionis.

 

  The Cuneus Of Men In Armour At Bremetenracum.

 

  The Prefect Of The First _Ala_, Styled Herculean, At Olenacum.

 

  The Tribune Of The Sixth Cohort Of The Nervians At Virosidum.

 

Of These Stations, With Their Officers And Troops, Only Those As Far As

Magna Are In Northumberland; The Rest Continue The Chain Of Defences

Across Cumberland To The Solway Firth. Besides These Stations, There

Were _Castella_ At The Distance Of Every Roman Mile (Seven Furlongs)

Along The Wall, From Which Circumstance They Are Known As

"Mile-Castles." They Provided Accommodation For The Troops Necessary

Between The Stations, Which Were At Some Distance From Each Other; And

Between Each Two _Castella_ There Were Also Erected Two Turrets, So That

Communication From One End Of The Wall To The Other Was Speedy And

Certain.

 

All Traces Of The Station Of Segedunum (Wallsend) Have Long Since

Disappeared; The Wall From There, Beginning Actually In The Bed Of The

River, Ran Almost Parallel With The N.E.R. Tynemouth Branch, A Little To

The South Of It, And Climbing The Hill To Byker, Went Down The Slope To

The Ouseburn Parallel With Shields Road, Crossing The Burn Just A Little

To The South Of Byker Bridge. From There Its Course Has Been Traced To

Red Barns, Where St. Dominic's Now Stands, To The Sallyport Gate, And

Over The Wall Knoll To Pilgrim Street; Thence To The West Door Of The

Cathedral, And On Past St. John's Church, Up Westgate Road.

 

The Station At Pons Aelii, It Is Generally Agreed, Occupied The Ground

Between The Cathedral Church Of St. Nicholas And The Premises Of The

Lit. And Phil. Society. Following The Wall Up Westgate Road, We Are Now

Out Upon The Highway From Newcastle To Carlisle, Which, As We Have Seen,

Is Upon The Very Line Of The Wall For Nearly A Score Of Miles. At

Condercum (Benwell) The Next Station, Garrisoned By A Cavalry Corps Of

Asturians From Spain, A Small Temple Was Uncovered In The Course Of

Excavating, And Two Altars Found Still Standing In Their Original

Position. Both Of These Were To A Deity Unknown Elsewhere, Given As

Antenociticus On One, And As Anociticus On The Other. The Former Was

Erected By A Centurion Of The Twentieth Legion, The Valerian And

Victorious, Whose Crest, The Running Boar, We Shall Meet With More Than

Once In Our Journey.

 

Westward From Here, Near West Denton Lodge, Faint Indications Of The

Turf Wall (Generally Called The Vallum, To Distinguish It From The

Murus, Or Stone Wall), Come Into Sight, And Traces Of A Mile-Castle To

The Left Of The Road. After This The Vallum And Murus Accompany Each

Other For The Rest Of Their Journey, With But Little Intermission. The

Next Mile-Castle Was At Walbottle, From Which Point A Delightful View Of

The Tyne Valley And The Surrounding Country Can Be Obtained. Passing

Throckley And Heddon-On-The-Wall, Where The Fosse On The Northern Side

Of The Wall Is Well Seen, And Also The Vallum And Its Fosse, Vindolana

(Rutchester) Is Reached; But There Is Little Evidence Here That It Is

The Site Of A Once Busy And Bustling Garrison Station. Indeed, Up To

This Point And For A Considerable Distance Further, A Few Courses Of

Stones Here And There Are All That Is To Be Seen Of The Roman Wall, Its

Material Having For The Most Part Been Swallowed Up In The Construction

Of The Turnpike Road On Which We Are Travelling. This Road Was Made In

1745 Because There Was No Road By Which General Wade Could Convey His

Troops From Newcastle To Carlisle, When "Bonnie Prince Charlie" Marched

So Gaily To That City On His Way Southward, And So Sadly, In A Month,

Returned Again.

 

The Wall Now Makes For The Ridge Of Harlow Hill, While The Vallum Goes

On In A Perfectly Straight Line Past The Picturesque Whittle Dene And

The Waterworks, Until The Wall Joins It Again Near Welton, Where The

Old Pele-Tower Is Entirely Built Of Roman Stones. After Matfen Piers,

Where A Road To The Northward Leads To The Beautiful Little Village Of

Matfen, And One To The Southward To Corbridge, The Wall Passes Wall

Houses And Halton Shields, Where The Various Lines Of The Wall, Road,

And Earthworks, As Well As The Fosse Of Each, Can Be Distinctly Seen.

Passing Carr Hill, The Wall Leads Up To The Station Of Hunnum (Halton

Chesters), Where Parnesius Was Stationed When Maximus Gave Him His

Commission On The Wall. It Is Not Easy To Recognise The Site Now, But As

We Follow The Road We May Comfort Ourselves With The Reflection That At

Least We Have Walked Right Across It From The Eastern Gate To The

Western.

 

A Short Distance Further On Is Stagshawbank, Famed For Its Fairs, The

Glory Of Which, However, Has Greatly Departed Since The Days When Dandie

Dinmont Had Such Adventures On Returning From "Staneshiebank." It Stands

Just Where The Wall Crosses The Watling Street, Which Enters

Northumberland At Ebchester, And Crossing The Moors To Whittonstall,

Leads Down The Long Descent To Riding Mill; There Turning Westward To

Corbridge, It Comes Straight On To Stagshawbank, Leading Thence

Northwestward Past The Wall Through Redesdale To The Borders, Which It

Reaches At Ad Fines Camp, Or Chew Green, Where The Solitudes Of The

Cheviots And The Silence Of The Deserted Camp Are Soon To Be Startled By

The Rifle-Shots Of Territorials At Practice. West Of Stagshawbank The

Earthen Ramparts Are To Be Seen In Great Perfection.

 

As The Wall Nears Chollerford, One May See, A Little To The Northward,

The Little Chapel Of St. Oswald, Which, As We Have Seen In A Former

Chapter, Marks The Site Of The Battle Of Heavenfield. Just Before

Reaching This Point, There Is A Quarry To The South Of The Wall From

Which The Romans Obtained Much Building-Stone, And One Of Them Has Left

His Name Carved On One Of The Stones Left Lying There, Thus--(P)Etra

Flavi(I) Carantini--_The Stone Of Flavius Carantinus_.

 

At Plane Trees Field And At Brunton There Are Larger Pieces Of The Wall

Standing Than We Have Yet Seen. The Wall Now Parts Company With The

Highroad, Which Swerves A Little To The North In Order To Cross The Tyne

By Chollerford Bridge, While The Course Of The Wall Is Straight Ahead,

For The Present Bridge Is Not The One Built And Used By The Romans. That

Is In A Line With The Wall, And Therefore South Of The Present One; And

As We Have Already Noticed, Its Piers Can Be Seen Near The River Banks

When The River Is Low. A Diagram Of Its Position Is Given In Dr. Bruce's

_Handbook_.

 

The Wall Now Leads Up To The Gateway Of Cilurnum, Which We Have Already

Visited; And After Leaving The Park, It Goes On Up The Hill To Walwick.

Here It Is Rejoined By The Road, Which Now For Some Little Distance

Proceeds Actually On The Line Of The Wall, The Stones Of Which Can

Sometimes Be Seen In The Roadway. The Tower A Little Further On, On The

Hill Called Tower Tye, Or Taye, Was Not Built By The Romans, Although

Roman Stones Were Used In Its Erection; It Is Only About Two Hundred

Years Old.

 

At Black Carts Farm, Which The Wall Now Passes, The First Turret

Discovered On The Line Of The Wall After The Excavations Had Begun, And

Interest In The Subject Was Revived, Was Here Laid Bare By Mr. Clayton

In 1873. At Limestone Bank, Not Much Further On, The Fosse North Of The

Wall, And Also That Of The Vallum, Show A Skill In Engineering Such As

We Are Apt To Fancy Belongs Only To These Days Of Powerful Machinery,

And Explosives For Rending A Way Through The Hardest Rock. The Ditches

Have Both Been Cut Through The Solid Basalt, And Great Boulders Of It

Are Strewn Around; One Huge Mass, Weighing Many Tons, Has Been Hoisted

Out--By What Means, We Are Left To Wonder; And Another, Still In The

Ditch, Has The Holes, Intended For The Wedges Still Discernible.

 

A Mile Or So Further On Is Procolitia (Carrawburgh), Where Is The Famous

Well Presided Over By The Goddess Coventina, Whose Acquaintance We Have

Already Made At Cilurnum. The Remains Of The Station At Procolitia Are

By No Means To Be Compared With Those At Borcovicus Or Cilurnum; Very

Few Of Its Stones Are Yet Remaining. The Well Was The Most Interesting

Find At Procolitia. It Was Known To Be There, For Horsley Had Mentioned

It; But The Waters Which Supplied It Were Diverted In Consequence Of

Some Lead-Mining Operations. Then The Stream Formed By Its Overflow

Dried Up, Grass Grew Over Its Course And Over The Well, And It Was Lost

Sight Of Entirely. But The Same Thing Which Had Led To Its Disappearance

Was The Means Of Finding It Again. Some Lead Miners, Prospecting For

Another Vein Of Ore In The Neighbourhood, Happened To Dig In This Very

Spot, And Soon Struck The Stones Round The Mouth Of The Well. Mr.

Clayton Had It Properly Excavated, And Was Rewarded By Coming Not Only

Upon The Well, But A Rich Find Of Roman Relics Of All Kinds, Which Had

Either Been Thrown Pell-Mell Into It For Concealment In A Moment Of

Danger, Or, What Is More Likely, Been Thrown In During The Course Of

Ages As Votive Offerings To The Presiding Goddess Of The Well. There

Were Thousands Of Coins, Mostly Silver And Copper, With Four Gold Pieces

Among Them; And A Large Collection Of Miscellaneous Objects, Including

Vases, Shoes, Pearls, Ornaments, Altars And Inscribed Stones, All Of

Which Were Taken To Chesters. The Next Point Of Interest On The Wall Is

The Farmhouse Of Carraw, Which The Priors Of Hexham Abbey Once Used As A

Summer Retreat. A Little Further On, At Shield-On-The-Wall, Wade's Road

Crosses To The South Of The Earthen Lines, And Parts Company With The

Wall For A Little While, For The Latter Bends Northward To Take The High

Ridge, As Usual, While The Road And Vallum Continue In A Straight Line.

The Fragments Of A Mile-Castle Are Standing Just At The Point Where The

Wall Swerves Northward; Indeed, We Have Been Passing The Sites Of These

_Castella_, With Fragments More Or Less In Evidence All Along The Route,

But Those Which We Shall Now Encounter Are Much More Distinctly To Be

Seen Than Their Fellows On The Eastern Part Of The Journey, Many Of

Which Have Disappeared Altogether.

 

The High Crags Which Here Shoulder The Wall Are Part Of The Great Whin

Sill, An Intrusive Dyke Of Dolerite Which Stretches From Greenhead

Northeastward Across The County Nearly To Berwick. The Military Road

Here Leaves The Wall, With Which It Does Not Again Come Into Close

Contact Until Both Are Near Carlisle, Though In Several Places The Roman

Road Will Be Encountered Near The Wall In A Well-Preserved Condition.

The Wall Now Climbs Another Ascent To The Farmhouse Of Sewingshields,

Which Name Is Variously Explained As "Seven Shields," And As "The Shiels

(Shielings, Or Little Huts) By The Seugh" Or Hollow--The Hollow Being

The Fosse. Sewingshields Castle, Long Since Disappeared, Is The Scene Of

The Knight's Adventures In Sir Walter Scott's "Harold The Dauntless."

And Tradition Asserts That King Arthur, With Queen Guinevere And All The

Court, Lies In An Enchanted Sleep Beneath The Castle, Or At Least Its

Site. Not Only Is There No Castle, But The Wall Also Has Been Despoiled

To Supply The Material For Building The Farmhouse And Other Buildings In

The Neighbourhood. The Wall Climbs Unfalteringly Over The Crags, One

After The Other, Until The Wide Opening Of Busy Gap Is Reached. This

Being Such A Convenient Pass From North To South, It Was Naturally Used

Constantly By Raiders And Thieves; And Such An Unenviable Notoriety Did

It Possess, That To Call A Person A "Busy Gap Rogue" Was Sufficient To

Lay Oneself Open To An Action For Libel. Climbing The Next Slope We Look

Down On Broomlee Lough And Reach The Portion Of The Wall We Have Already

Noted--Borcovicus (Housesteads), Cuddy's Crag, Hot Bank Farmhouse, And

Crag; Lough.

 

The Course Of The Wall Continues, Past Milking Gap, Along The Rugged

Heights Of Steel Rig, Cat's Stairs, And Peel Crag, Till On Reaching

Winshields We Are At The Highest Point On The Line, 1,230 Feet Above The

Sea-Level. Dipping Down To Green Slack, The Wall Crosses The Valley

Called Lodham Slack,