A Tour of the Roman Wall - Shap Local History Society, March 2006

When members of Shap Local History Society met for their March meeting, they were welcomed by vice-chairman Jean Scott-Smith who introduced the guest speaker, Anton Hodge.

Mr. Hodge studied classics and ancient history at university and developed an interest in the Roman Wall, the subject of his talk.

He began by describing the various periods of Roman activity. In 43AD Claudius conquered the South East and in 70AD the North began to be occupied. The Roman town of Luguvalium, now known as Carlisle, was an important centre, and a road called the Stanegate was constructed to link it with Corbridge. Vindolanda is a fort on this road and pre-dates the wall.

It was not until 122AD that the Emperor Hadrian decreed that a wall be built from the Tyne to the Solway. Frontier walls were also built in Germany and Belgium. The boundary was built by three Legions over a period of five to eight years - quite a feat.

The construction consists of the wall itself, with ditches at either side and a military way for ease of travel. There were mile castles every Roman mile, with turrets between to provide shelter. This was in effect a military zone, manned by auxiliary troops.

The wall was constructed of stone between Wallsend and Birdoswald and from there to Bowness on Solway it was of turf, although stone later replaced these sections.

LARGEST FORT

Forts were constructed on the south side of the wall and civilian towns known as vici sprung up close to these, and this appears to have been an amicable arrangement. The largest fort on the whole wall was at Stanwix. This housed troops and cavalry. Nothin now survives as the site is now occupied by Carlisle Art College.

 Mr. Hodge had walked the length of the wall and showed slides of the journey. He explained that only about one per cent of the wall is original, as there have been many repairs carried out over the centuries. The wall also suffered by being used as a quarry for building stone and many older houses in the vicinity have Roman masonry incorporated in them.

 A large section of the wall was destroyed during the Jacobite rebellion when General Wade's army built a road towards Carlisle and used stone from the wall for the road foundation. (see note 1 below)

 The most westerly part of the wall visible today is at Bitts Park, Carlisle, as the Carlisle canal was constructed on the line of the wall and nothing can be discerned further west. (see note 2 below)

There was an opportunity for questions and Mr. Hodge was thanked by chairman Jean Jackson.

Notes:

1.  In 1745, Wade had been unable to reach Carlisle and Brampton where Bonnie Prince Charlie had taken up residence. The "Military Road" (B6318) was actually begun after 1753 (Wade had died in 1748), but is usually associated with him.

2. Refers to the stones which formed part of the Roman bridge carrying the Wall over the River Eden. They have been pulled from the river and are on display in Bitts Park. The most westerly parts of "standing" Wall are between Banks and Walton.

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