William Hutton

“ The Wall is here six or seven feet high, but in confusion; keeps a zig-zag line merely to follow the precipice. I requested my friend Magnay to conduct me to the famous Busy Gap, about twenty-nine miles from Newcastle; so called from the frequency of the Picts and Scots breaking through this gap, and surprizing the Romans and Britons, and afterwards of the Moss Troopers. This I also found to be a break in the mountain over which the Wall ran, now filled up by a common-field gate, two yards and a half wide. It lies one mile beyond Shewenshields.
The human mind is apt to rise into the wonderful. ”

“ The Castle stood at the corner, North-West, within the Station; was itself moated round, as were also the Station and the Suburbs, separately.
Joining the Wall, within, are the remains of a court of Justice, about twelve yards long, and six wide. In the West corner was the Judge's seat, six feet diameter, and quoined with stone, ten courses of which remain. It is not easy to survey these important ruins without a sigh: a place once of the greatest activity, but now a solitary desert; instead of the human voice, is heard nothing but the winds. ”

“ I am now descending a hill of some magnitude, called Wall Fell, and am within half a mile of the river of North Tyne. Could I follow the line of the Wall, it would lead me to what was once the Roman Bridge over that river; the foundation of which, I was given to understand, I might see, if I would wade; but as I could not do one, nor wished to do the other, I submitted to the turnpike road, and the present bridge, which perhaps is half a mile above that of the Romans, and which obliged me to quit the line of the Wall for two miles. ”

“ The trenches and ramparts are bold, particularly on the waste, where they are very large. The appearance of the place, and the idea of past transactions, strike the soul with awe. It appears by the ground, that the buildings have swelled into a Suburb. The marks of a Temple, and Court of Justice, are visible. The Wall, in confusion, is here about three feet high. The swelling banks shew where the Castle stood, and particularly mark the butments. ”

“ If a man writes a book upon a turnpike road, he cannnot be expected to move quick; but, lost in astonishment, I was not able to move at all.
Upon this common, which is very high ground, I more than once observed some of the facing stones of Severus's Wall under my feet, just as the Romans placed them, which proves that the road is raised so high, as to bury some part of the Wall; this simple sight I could not observe without surprize and pleasure.
At St. Oswald's the road turns a little to the left, for a few yards, and leaves the Wall to the right; hut very soon crosses it again. ”

“ I now cross a small rivulet called Poltross, which gives me an entrance into Cumberland, being forty-four miles from the Wall's end, forty and a half from Newcastle, about sixteen and a half from Carlisle, and twenty-nine and a half from Boulness.
The Wall, close to my left, runs along a meadow, is about a yard high, in confusion, has a hedge growing upon it, till it reaches the East bank of the Irthing, where it stops. The West bank is a precipice, which Warburton calls forty yards perpendicular: perhaps he is right. ”

“ Busy life ruins antiquity. The faithful Warburton will lead me along this crowded place, where nothing of the Roman is seen; after which I shall be able to walk, alone, and perhaps correct my leader.
Though we are arrived at Pandongate, I apprehend we are not arrived at the Station, but a gate in the town wall, where a turret of the Roman Wall once stood. Pandon, in the time of the Romans, and for ages after, was a distinct village, and given to Newcastle by Edward the First.
Warburton proves that Severus's Wall lies a little to the North of St. Nicholas's church ”

“ Here we see a town full of streets and houses, immured in stone walls; where every man, though a soldier, might, when not upon duty, follow his occupation.
The Bank and Ditch are nearly complete; the last is ten yards wide. Proceeding two hundred yards, it passes a house, late Cousens', now belonging to John Baddle, Esq. Then Slate's house, to a stile in the valley. Now we rise a hill, with the Wall under the very path we tread. The Ditch twelve yards wide. ”

“ In some Stations the Antiquary feeds upon shells, but here upon kernels. Here lie the remains of antient splendour in bold characters.
The line, as usual, proceeds over the crags, which leave a precipice fifty feet high on the North. At the bottom are three pools. The Wall is six or seven feet high; but miserably broken, and continues in the same style six or seven miles, a heap of rubbish. In some parts only three feet high, and occasionally shews five or six courses of facingstones. ”

“ After quitting Burgh, which is a long, flat place, and deemed the largest village in Cumberland, we enter a flat marsh, three or four miles square, the road in the centre; the marsh is sometimes overflowed with the sea, is full of cattle, and deep ditches, to carry off the tide. I cannot suppose, that either the Wall or the mounds ran along this marsh.
As Severus certainly proceeded on our right through Burgh, and as certainly crosses the road from left to right, as we rise the hill, at the extremity of the marsh, entering Drumburgh ”

“ At this lane's end, the noble works of Agricola and Hadrian are supposed to have terminated; which is probable.
One mile prior to the extremity of our journey, and at the distance of one close on our left, appears in majesty, for the last time, Severus's Wall, being five or six hundred yards long, and three feet high; but, as in the mountains, all confusion. A fence grows upon it, which becomes its security from an arrest either by time, or the wicked hands of man. In two places it is six feet high, eight broad, and three thick; but has no facing-stones. ”

“ Stones have been frequently ploughed up at Burgh with the mortar adhering to them, which shews the annihilated state of the Wall; nay I believe every farmer, through the whole line from sea to sea, can point out the spot where it ran in his own ground. ”

“ Agricola and Hadrian lie one hundred yards on my left.
I thought I observed the foundation of a turret, but am not certain; I saw, however, forty yards of facing-stones, from five to seven courses high. In another place on the common, called the Banks, I saw eight. All the mounds, the Wall, and the ditches, are seen all the way along this common; the Wall four feet high.
At Bank head, the foundation of the Wall only is seen; the trench is in perfection; a foot-path runs along the bottom. ”

“ To this, though I am no votary for healths, I made no objection; for a friend will not lead a man wrong. But afterwards entering upon indelicate healths, which neither suited the prayer they had requested, nor my pursuits, I withdrew.
The Wall passes near the West gate, and proceeds on our right towards the turnpike. Not many yards before we reach the gate, it crosses the road, and passes through an inclosure, twenty yards on our left; and not through the Quarry house, which is close to the turnpike road on our right. ”

“ Most tales are stretched a little beyond what they ought to bear. How often have we "never seen such a thing in our lives!" "Every thing in the world" often rings in our ears. Something like this is the case of the Moss Troopers. ”

“ There were, besides the father and mother, six children, chiefly females, and grown up. One of them, a young woman, I was sorry to see, was approaching the grave.
Although a public-house, they had no ale, cyder, porter, beer, or liquors, of any kind, or food, except milk, which was excellent; but they treated me with something preferable, Civility.
When I rose the next morning, and asked my worthy landlady, what I had to pay? I found she would be satisfied with only a few pence! Ignorant of the polite art of duping, I found she knew but little of the world. ”

“ Wall's End.
When part of a building remains, we can sometimes comprehend the whole; but where nothing is left, conjecture is hazardous. This is our present case. No buildings are left in this Station, or any other, to guide the judgment. The spot, now a green pasture, about four acres, three miles and a half below Newcastle, gently declines to the river Tyne; is uneven, as having been covered with buildings. At the top of this green pasture, and parallel with the water, runs Severus's Ditch ”

“ At Denton Dean, situated at the bottom of Benwell Hill, the great road veers a few yards to the right, that is, into Severus's ditch, and gives us for the first time a sight of that most venerable piece of antiquity, The Wall, which is six yards South of the road, and twenty short of the brook I am going to pass. The fragment is thirty-six feet long, has three course of facing stones on one side, and four on the other, and is exactly nine feet thick. An apple-tree grows upon the top, as shewn in the Plate annexed. ”

“ Severus runs along, from one to three feet high, all confusion, mounting every craggy precipice it can find, and, from the prodigious declivity on the North, needs no ditch; while Agricola and Hadrian beautifully proceed over a small eminence below, five hundred yards South, where their works, or rather Agricola's joins a large fort sixty yards square, once a Castle. ”

“ And here I must be allowed to call in question the wisdom of the moderns, who have erected a bridge at twice the expence; for the water is here twice as wide, two hundred and fifty feet; and, by quitting the Roman line, caused the traveller to march two miles instead of one. But private interest is known to prevent public good.
The eye can easily carry the works of the three great men over the water, across the valley; and up one inclosure of perhaps two hundred yards, five or six acres ”

“ At the twentieth-mile stone, I should have seen a piece of Severus's Wall seven feet and a half high, and two hundred and twenty-four yards long: a sight not to be found in the whole line. But the proprietor, Henry Tulip, Esq. is now taking it down, to erect a farm-house with the materials. Ninety-five yards are already destroyed, and the stones, fit for building removed. Then we come to thirteen yards which are standing, and overgrown on the top with brambles. ”

“ I AM now nine miles from Carlisle, and four from Boulness, the termination of the Wall. The Castle stands upon a rising ground, at the extremity of the marsh; and was erected by the Dacres, two hundred years ago, with the materials of the old Castle, and upon the old foundation. Their arms are placed in the front. It is no more than a large, handsome farm-house. ”

“ I believe it to be a Roman Chief.
The Wall then proceeds from this elevated Station down the precipice, where it crosses the river Eden, to Carlisle; and makes a remarkable bend to the right, evidently to cross at the narrowest part, and to include the city, which was a place of consequence in the time of the Britons. ”

“ The Station at Burdoswald, forty-three miles from Newcastle, and fifteen from Carlisle, contains five or six acres, joins the Wall, like other Stations, on the North. All the Roman buildings are down; but the marks of many appear. The ground will tell us what has been laid upon it. Some have been the turrets of the Castle. One a prison. Another, twelve yards by five, was designed for the guard. The whole Station is surrounded by a foss. All the entrances are plain. The whole in a high situation.
The Wall here is six feet thick. Mr. Bowman's fold, &c. stand on the very works. ”

“ The ground plot was visible before the purchase, and is all that was left of the Station. Along the Wall, Severus's ditch with the Works of Agricola and Hadrian may be traced; but the higher we rise in cultivation the more we sink in antiquity. The plough will bury its last remains. ”

“ The place where this Station was, is easily found; but no marks remain, not even that roughness in the ground which distinguishes every other.
Agricola and Hadrian totally disappear; and all that can be seen of Severus is his ditch, which is nearly obliterated, about two hundred yards long, part of which is a bye lane, and part by the hedge, in the inclosure, fourteen yards wide, and four feet deep: both point to the Station, and down the precipice, fifty feet high, to the river. ”

“ SEVERUS's Wall seems to pass through this Station. What remains is a close, joining the road, of five acres, now in grass, and eminently situated; carries the strong marks of former buildings, and still stronger of its ramparts. ”