Northumberland Yesterday And To Day, Jean F. Terry [learn to read activity book .txt] 📗
- Author: Jean F. Terry
Book online «Northumberland Yesterday And To Day, Jean F. Terry [learn to read activity book .txt] 📗». Author Jean F. Terry
Gaps And Heights In This Neighbourhood Are Highly Descriptive, And
Sometimes Weirdly Suggestive; We Have Had Cat's Stairs, And Now We Come
To Bogle Hole, Bloody Gap, And Thorny Doors. A Little Further West From
Here The Very Considerable Remains Of A Mile-Castle May Be Seen, In
Which A Tombstone Was Found Doing Duty As A Hearth-Stone. The
Inscription Recorded That It Had Been Erected By Pusinna To The Memory
Of Her Husband Dagvaldus, A Soldier Of Pannonia.
Westward From This Mile-Castle The Wall Climbs Burnhead Crag, On Which
The Foundations Of A Building, Similar To The Turrets, Were Exposed A
Few Years Ago; Then It Dips Down Again To Haltwhistle Burn, Which Comes
From Greenlee Lough, And Is Called, Until It Reaches The Wall, The Caw
Burn. From The Burn A Winding Watercourse Supplied The Roman Station Of
Aesica (Great Chesters) With Water. Just Here The Wall Is In A Very
Ruinous Condition; And Of The Station Of Aesica But Little Masonry
Remains, Though The Outlines Of It Can He Clearly Traced. Beyond Aesica,
However, Is A Splendid Portion Of The Wall, Standing Some Seven Or Eight
Courses High. Here It Climbs Again To The Top Of The Crags Which Once
More Appear, Bold And Rugged, To Culminate In The "Nine Nicks Of
Thirlwall," So Called From The Number Of Separate Heights Into Which The
Crags Divide, And Over Which The Wall Takes Its Way.
At Walltown, On This Part Of Its Course, Is To Be Seen An Old Well, In
Which Paulinus Is Said To Have Baptised King Edwin; But The Local Name
For It Is King Arthur's Well. Now The Wall Descends To A Level And
Pastoral Country, Leaving Behind It The Wild Moorland And Craggy Heights
Across Which It Has Travelled So Long; But Unfortunately Much Of It Has
Been Destroyed By The Quarrying Operations At Greenhead. Of The Station
Of Magna (Caervoran) Little Can Be Seen At The Present Day. This Station
And Aesica Are Nearer To Each Other Than Are Any Other Two Stations On
The Wall, And A Line Of Camps, Five In Number, Stand South Of The Wall
And Vallum, From Magna To Amboglanna, Showing That A Third Line Of
Defence Was Deemed Necessary Where The Natural Defences Of Moorland
Ridge, Lough Or Crag Were Absent.
The Roman Way Called The Stanegate Comes From The Eastward Almost Up To
The Station Of Magna, Which Stands A Little To The South Of Both Wall
And Vallum, Between Them And Wade's Road, Which Here Approaches Nearer
To The Wall Than It Has Done For Many Miles.
Another Roman Road, The Maiden Way, Comes From The South Closely Up To
The Vallum, Quite Near To Thirlwall Castle. The Name "Thirlwall" Was
Supposed To Commemorate The "Thirling" (Drilling Or Piercing) Of The
Wall At This Point By The Barbarians, But This Is Extremely Doubtful;
Though The Difficulty Of Defending The Wall On This Level Tract Lends An
Air Of Likelihood To This Supposition. Near Here The Little River Tipalt
Flows Across The Line Of The Wall On Its Way Southward To Join The North
Tyne.
Passing Wallend, Gap, And Rose Hill, Where Gilsland Railway Station Now
Stands, We Follow The Wall To The Deep Dene Of The Poltross Burn, Which
Forms The Boundary Between Northumberland And Cumberland. The Railway
Just Beyond The Burn Crosses The Line Of The Wall; And, Further On, An
Interesting Portion, Several Courses High, Takes Its Way Through The
Vicarage Garden. Here We Will Leave It To Continue Its Way Through
Cumberland, And Turn Our Attention To The Chief Roman Ways Which Cross
Northumberland, With Other Stations Standing Upon Them.
The Watling Street Or Dere Street, We Have Already Noticed; And The
Chief Station On It, Which Has Also Proved To Be The Largest In
Northumberland, Is Corstopitum, Near Corbridge. The Recent Excavations
Since 1906 Have Resulted In The Finding Of Many Interesting Relics,
Including Some Hundreds Of Coins, Amongst Which Were Forty-Eight Gold
Pieces, Of Later Roman Date, Ranging From Those Of Valentinian I. To
Those Of Magnus Maximus. Pottery In Large Quantities Has Also Been
Found, Most Of It, Of Course, In A Fragmentary Condition, But Some
Pieces, Notably Bowls Of Samian Ware, Almost Perfect, And Dating From
The First Century. Several Interesting Pieces Of Sculpture Have Been
Unearthed; One A Finely Sculptured Lion Standing Over An Animal Which It
Has Evidently Just Killed; This Was, No Doubt, Used As An Outlet For
Water At The Fountain, Judging By The Projection Of The Lion's Lower
Lip. Another Piece Of Sculpture Represents A Sun-God, The Rays
Surrounding His Face; And Several Altars And Many Inscribed Stones Are
Also Amongst The Treasures Lately Revealed. A Clay Mould Of A Human
Figure Was Also Found, Which Is Supposed To Represent Some Keltic Deity;
But As The Figure Wears A Short Tunic Not Unlike A Kilt, And Carries A
Crooked Club, The Workmen Promptly Christened It Harry Lauder! The
Buildings In This Town, For It Is Much More Than A Military Station,
Have Been Large And Imposing, As Is Shown By Each Successive Revelation
Made By The Excavators' Spades. The Portion Of The Watling Street
Leading From Corstopitum To The River Has Also Been Laid Bare.
The Roman Road Called The Stanegate Runs Westward From The North Tyne At
Cilurnum, A Little To The North Of Fourstones Railway Station, Through
Newbrough, On Past Grindon Hill, Grindon Lough, Which It Passes On The
South, And Grindon Dykes, To Vindolana (Chesterholm) Another Roman Town,
Which Lies A Mile Due South From Hot Bank Farmhouse On The Wall.
Vindolana Stood On A Most Favourable Site, A High Platform Protected On
Three Sides, And It Covered Three And A Half Acres Of Ground. Here No
Excavations Have Yet Been Made, And The Site Is Grass Grown And Desolate
Although The Outlines Of The Station May Be Distinctly Traced. A Ruinous
Building To The West Of This Station Was Popularly Called The Fairies'
Kitchen, A Name Given To It On Account Of The Marks Of Fire And Soot On
The Pillars. From The Station Several Inscribed Stones And Altars Have
Been Taken To The Museum At Chesters. One Of Them Is Dedicated To The
Genius Of The Camp By Pituanius Secundus, The Prefect Of The Fourth
Cohort Of The Gauls, Which Cohort, As We Have Already Seen By The
_Votitia_, Was Stationed Here. In The Valley Below Vindolana A Little
Cottage Is Standing. It Is Built Entirely Of Roman Stones, And Was
Erected By An Enthusiastic Antiquary, Mr. Anthony Hedley, For Himself.
Many Of The Stones Used In Its Construction Have Inscriptions On Them;
And In The Covered Passage, Leading From The Cottage Down To The Burn,
We Come Upon One Of Them Inscribed With The Name Of Our Old Friend The
Xxth Legion, And Its Crest, The Running Boar. The Most Interesting Relic
Of All In The Neighbourhood Is A Roman Mile-Stone, Standing In Its
Original Position On The Stanegate.
Leaving Vindolana, This Road Goes On Westward To Magna, Where It Joins
The Maiden Way, Another Important Roman Road, Which Runs From North To
South. Coming From The Neighbourhood Of Bewcastle Fells, It Enters
Northumberland At Gilsland, And Leading Eastward As Far As Magna, Then
Turns Directly Southward Past Greenhead.
In Concluding This Chapter On The Roman Remains In Our County, _Apropos_
Of The Wholesale Destruction Of The Wall And Larger Stations Which Has
Taken Place In The Last Century Or Two, I Will Quote The Words Of Two
Historians On That Subject. Dr. Thomas Hodgkin Says: "In The Reign Of
Queen Elizabeth, Camden, The Enthusiastic Antiquary, Dared Not Traverse
The Line Of The Wall By Reason Of The Gangs Of Brigands By Whom It Was
Infested. The Union Of The Two Countries Brought Peace, And Peace
Brought Prosperity; Prosperity, Alas! More Fatal To The Wall Than
Centuries Of Border Warfare. For Now The Prosperous Farmers Of
Northumberland And Cumberland Awoke To The Building Facilities Which
Lurked In These Square Green Enclosures On Their Farms, Treated Them As
Their Best Quarries, And Robbed Them Unmercifully Of Their Fine
Well-Hewn Stones. Happily That Work Of Demolition Is Now In Great
Measure Stayed, And At This Day We Visit The Camps For A Nobler Purpose,
To Learn All They Can Teach Us As To The Past History Of Our Country."
None, I Think, Will Disagree With These Words Of The Learned Doctor,
Whether Or Not They May Go As Far As Cadwallader J. Bates, Who, In
Concluding His Chapter On The Roman Wall, Gave It As His Opinion That
"Unless The Island Is Conquered By Some Civilized Nation, There Will
Soon Be No Traces Of The Wall Left. Nay, Even The Splendid Whinstone
Crags On Which It Stands Will Be All Quarried Away To Mend The Roads Of
Our Urban And Rural Authorities."
Chapter 8 (Some Northumbrian Streams)
Northumberland Is Fortunate In The Number Of Rivers Which, Owing To The
Position Of The Cheviot Hills, Flow Right Across The County From West To
East. These Northumbrian Streams Have A Distinct Character Of Their Own,
And Are Of A Different Breed From Those Of The Southern; Counties. They
Are Neither Mountain Torrents Nor Placid Leisurely Rivers, Such As Are
Met Elsewhere In Britain, But Busy, Bright, Joyous, And Sparkling,
Never Sluggish, Never Silent, Even When Deep And Full, As Is The Tyne In
Its Lower Reaches. With The Tyne And Its Tributary Streams We Have
Already Travelled; But There Are Others Yet Awaiting Us, Claiming Our
Attention Sometimes For The Romantic Scenery Through Which They Run
Their Bright Course, Sometimes For The Historic Sites They Pass On Their
Way, Sometimes For Both Reasons. Wansbeck, Coquet, Aln, Or Till--Each
Has Its Own Interest, As Has Also The Tweed In That Score Or So Of Miles
Along Which It Can He Spoken Of In Connection With Northumberland.
The Source Of The Wansbeck, The Only "Beck" The County Possesses, Is
Amongst The "Wild Hills O' Wannys" (Wanny's Beck) A Group Of Picturesque
Sandstone Crags Which Surround Sweethope Lough, A Sheet Of Water Which
Covers 180 Acres. The Scenery Of This Upper Course Of The Wansbeck Is
Very Striking, From The Lough To Kirkwhelpington, Flowing Between Bleak
Moorland And Rich Pasture, And On To Littleharle Tower, Which Stands
Secluded In Deep Woods.
Another Mansion Near At Hand, And Most Picturesquely Situated, Is
Wallington Hall, Lying A Short Distance Away On The North Bank Of The
Wansbeck. It Is One Of The Most Notable Country Houses In
Northumberland, And Especially So On Account Of Its Unique
Picture-Gallery, Roofed With Dull Glass, And Containing Several Series
Of Pictures Connected With Northumbrian History. One Of These Is A
Series Of Frescoes By William Bell Scott, Whose Name Was For So Many
Years Associated With All That Was Best In Art In Newcastle, And Whose
Picture Of The "Building Of The Castle" May Be Seen At The Head Of The
Staircase In The Lit. And Phil. Building. His Pictures At Wallington
Are:--1. The Building Of The Roman Wall. 2. The Visit Of King Egfrid
And Bishop Trumwine To St. Cuthbert On Fame. 3. A Descent Of The Danes.
4. Death Of The Venerable Bede. 5. The Charlton Spur. 6. Bernard Gilpin
Taking Down A Challenge Glove In Rothbury Church. 7. Grace Darling And
Her Father On The Way To The Wreck. 8. The Nineteenth Century--Showing
The High Level Bridge, The Quayside, An Armstrong Gun, Etc., Etc.
Another Series Consists Of Medallions And Portraits Of Famous Men
Connected With Northumbrian Events, From Hadrian And Severus Down To
George Stephenson And Others Of Modern Times; While Yet Another Depicts
All The Incidents Of "Chevy Chase."
Some Miles Further Eastward, The Wansbeck Receives The Hart Burn--Which,
By The Way, Is Larger Than The Parent Stream At This Point--And, A
Little Later, The Font. The Lovely Little Village Of Mitford, Once
Important Enough To Overshadow The Morpeth Of That Day, Lies At The
Junction Of Font And Wansbeck. The Mitfords Of Mitford Can Boast, If
Ever Family Could, Of Being Northumbrian Of The Northumbrians, As They
Were Seated Here Before The Days Of The Conqueror, Who Made Such A
General Upsetting Amongst The Saxon Landowners.
The Beauty Of The Two Miles Walk Along The Banks
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