Walking the Wall: An MA Adventure--- Episode 2.5: Wall Trek

Saturday afternoon was a very athletic experience. After leaving Chesters, we headed over to the Housesteads visitor's center. After piling out of the Land Rover, we realized that the fort was not anywhere near the parking lot. It was, in fact, a long, steep climb up to the fort, through fields full of sheep (and their droppings). I was very thankful for my wellies.

You can see how steep a climb it was up to the fort in this picture. We walked all the way from that stand of trees down at the bottom of the valley. If you think about it, having a fort up high on a hill is really quite bright, as you can keep an eye on the landscape for miles around. However, I imagine the soldiers weren't always happy to haul supplies up there and march all the way up in their heavy armor.

The fort itself is probably the most famous fort along the wall. In Roman times, it was know as "Vercovicium". It was built two years after the wall (in AD 124) over the original wall foundation, using the wall as its Northernmost border (which is weird, since most forts were built within the wall and sticking out on either side). Another odd feature that resulted from the fort's location is its lack of running water supply, which was a common feature of other forts along the wall. Due to its elevation, there was just no way to pump water all the way uphill. Instead, there was an ingenious system of rainwater collection. You can see the complex drain system and one of the large wells here on the left hand side of the photo.

We were all stumped as to what the little dips in the stone might be for. They were rounded, and fairly regular, but they didn't look entirely purposeful. What could have caused this? Professor Mattingly filled us in- the grooves were made while soldiers were washing their clothing, and rubbing it against the stone walls of the water tank!

We were lucky to get a full guided tour of the fort from Professor Mattingly, who has been here with many groups of students over the years. During our visit, we had to stay a few steps ahead of a huge tour group from Nottingham, which was quite the task. Still, we got some good information about life in the fort, and some of its mysteries. Apparently, in the settlement outside the fort's walls, there is a place known as "the Murder House", where the body of a man and woman were found beneath the floor's flagstones. Ancient murder mystery!


Housesteads is also famous for having one of the best-preserved Roman latrines in Britain. The holes in the wall would have held beams to support the row of wooden seats. Basically, you came in to the communal latrine (which did not have divided stalls), sat down, did your business, and then wiped with a sponge-on-a-stick. Soldiers each had their own sponge-on-a-stick, but cleaned them in the common drain that ran along the floor (ew). Then, you washed your hands in the basin in the middle. Fortunately, with all the water being used across the fort, the waste underneath would be washed away with some frequency. Still, doesn't sound entirely hygienic...

I'm still weirded out by the fact that they let sheep graze on the ruins. It makes the place seem even more ancient and abandoned, as sheep nonchalantly munch on grass in places once bustling with commerce and life. We would encounter more sheep along our wall walking adventure.

Photo by Lee G.

We set off from Housteads walking on top of the Broad Wall. It was a bit of an adventure, as one side fell steeply into a drop-off. I was very glad of the fence between me and a fall into the wild abyss.

There was a lot of up and down involved with walking the wall. The Romans seemed to have built the wall in a zig-zag both horizontal and vertical. I can't believe they managed to build something this massive in this sort of terrain. It is really impressive when you see it first-hand. Pictures can't even capture the depth and scale of its construction. There are some paths that have been cobbled for ease of travel, or had steps cut in, but this does little to change the very steep angles of the path and the fact that it rains all the time up in these highlands, making the cobbles very slippery. It was a bit perilous, but the views were worth it.

Photo by Ian M.

Along the way, we stopped at certain sites of interest. Every mile along the wall, there was a milecastle, a mini-fort that overlooked the landscape and managed traffic between the two sides. Every 1/3 mile, there were turrets, manned by temporary garrisons on guard duty. Unsurprisingly, there were lots of finds like dice, gaming pieces, and containers for beer found in these distant turrets. It must have been a bit lonely, and often uneventful. The photo to the left is one of the arched gates at a milecastle, looking out into "barbarian lands".

Even though it was a bit drizzly and chilly, we quickly warmed up from all the exercise. Up and down, up an down... It was a very long walk. I must admit, I usually brought up the rear of the party, taking my time climbing over fences and edging down steep slopes. I did not, however, get stuck in the mud at any point, which is really an improvement over previous archaeological outings!

Lots of other people were walking along the wall- it's a very popular tourist site. Now I know why...

The vistas were beautiful. This is a small loch, where water collects at the base of a cliff. When the sun came out, it glittered below us, the color set off against the vibrant greens and stark greys around it. It was breathtaking, walking along the landscape. That is, until you stepped in sheep dung.

Photo by John W.

I like this photo because it not only shows the insane verticality of the walk, but some of the sheep-proof passage devices along the way. We had to climb a lot of these triangular ladders, which were a bit awkward at times. You had to hang on to the railing, and swing yourself over the top, and it tended to hold up traffic a little. This made it good for people who had to catch up (like me!). There were also lots of one-person-at-a-time gates that were designed to keep sheep in. I think most of the structures along Hadrian's Wall have sheep in mind more than humans.

As we neared the midpoint of our walk, Professor Mattingly left us to go get the Land Rover, which had been left back at Housesteads fort. He walked down the first road we came to and caught a bus back to the parking lot. We were left under the supervision of Matt, the PhD student, who shepherded our increasingly-weary group along while taking some very nice pictures with a very fancy camera (I should see if he'll send me some of those...).

At last, we came to a spot known as Sycamore Gap, or as many people refer to it: Kevin Costner's Tree. There is apparently a scene in the 1991 movie "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" where Kevin Costner and Moorish friend Morgan Freeman have returned to England after captivity during the Crusades. They land at Dover (southeast coast of England), and on their way to Nottingham, are pictured walking along Hadrian's Wall. Now, if you remember the lovely map from the previous entry: Nottingham is about half an hour's drive north of Leicester. Hadrian's Wall is four hour's drive north of Leicester. Either Robin Hood has the world's worst sense of direction (you'd think he would have picked up some sense from the Lakota in Dances with Wolves) or they just picked a pretty spot to shoot and hoped audiences wouldn't realize where it was (I'm betting on the latter). It was very cinematic, I have to admit.

I even managed to get all the boys to stand together for a group photo. From left to right, the guys are:

Flavio Bacci (Italian)
Dave Walsh (Brit)
Matt Manditch (American/honorary Italian)
Ian Marshman (Brit)
John Wall (American, SC)
Lee (Spanish/British)
Matt Hobson (PhD student- Brit).



After Sycamore Gap, I think we were all quite ready to be sitting in the warmth of the Once Brewed Inn with a pint and a proper meal. All that stood between us was another short stretch of hilly terrain and a herd of cows.

Picture by Dave W.

Being from Iowa, I am quite used to cows. They are usually pretty friendly animals. I wouldn't want to make them too mad, but I'm generally not afraid of them. Some of the guys were a littler nervous, as we made our way through a pass occupied by what seemed to be an older female cow and some younger cows. I wasn't worried, but seeing this picture, perhaps I should have been...


We made it past the bovine gauntlet, and finally reached our destination. Victory! Well... not completely. I realized upon arrival that I had left my shoes in the Land Rover, which had not yet returned by the time we set out for dinner. So I got to wear my wellies to the pub. A lovely fashion statement, to be sure... Oh well. At that point, I didn't really care- I was ready for a good hearty meal sitting in a warm, dry place!

The Once Brewed tavern certainly did provide a hearty meal and a good drink. The food was traditionally British. I had an Irish Stew on Saturday (excellent!) and fish and chips the night before, although I wish I'd gone for the Steak pie, which looked delicious, too. This was also the beginning of my exposure to the wide variety of British ciders: sweet, dry, sparkling... It's been a beautiful voyage of discovery. This tavern also boasted over 65 varieties of rum, which was extremely impressive. We felt obligated to thoroughly test the quality of several of their selections...

The meals after our day on the wall were great. For the first part of the meal, we talked about what we had seen and what we thought about it. David Mattingly also introduced some of the ideas that have been debated with regard to the wall, and we started to delve into discussion of current issues in the field. It was a great opportunity to try out our analytical wings, so to speak. After David Mattingly left for the evening, the talk usually became less archaeological (although lots of crazy field school stories came out). We got to know each other, and start forming our identity as a group at those meals and on this trip. This field trip was brilliantly designed that way, both as an introduction to the field and what is expected of Masters students, as well as a forced socialization period. I have to say: it was one of the best trips I've ever taken, and one I know I'll be telling stories about in years to come.