Postcard From The Wall
On the way to Willowford Wall, are the ruins of Thirlwall Castle, a 12th century castle built by John Thirlwall that was later fortified using the stones from Hadrian's Wall.
It fell into disrepair by the 18th century and was later abandoned until 1999 when it moved under Northumberland National Park Authority management, protecting it from further decay and making it available for public access.
Willowford Wall is largely known for its two turrets and bridge abutment that carried the Wall across River Irthing. What makes this place fascinating is the irregular application of its original design. When building began, the first 3-4 layers of stone were at a broad gauge of 3m wide, alongside the abutment and turrets, however, before completion the Wall width was reduced to 2.2m.
What's assumed is that the foundations, turrets and abutment were built independently and separately from the superstructure and the decision has been changed about the width of the Wall after the foundations have been set.
The original bridge of stone arches was only wide enough to carry the Walland had a walkway along the top of it. A flood washed the bridge away and was rebuilt with a timber span in place of the fallen arches. In the second century it was widened to take a road across it and by the 4th century the stone blocks were removed to repair parts of the Birdoswald fort 400m further down the Wall.
Birdoswald is the first site where the Wall was built entirely out of turf. Although the fort initially began as a turf and timber structure, it was never completed and a stone fort replaced it. Sitting on 2.1 hectares and one of the largest forts on the Wall, its uniqueness lies in its continued occupation well into the 17th century as evidenced by unearthed foundations of a bastle house (c1650) and traces of a tower house (c1400).
The longest lasting legacy left at Birdoswald was made by the Dacians (present day Romania) who were recruited by the Roman army. Hadrian's own 1,000 strong unit, the Dacians left inscriptions at Birdoswald of their curved sword known as falx together with a palm frond.
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Tags:Conqueror Challenge, Hadrians Wall, Postcard
This update was first written by Darren Wall
on Tuesday 22nd Mar 2022.
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