You really can walk through much of British history when visiting Gilsland and Greenhead,
though not everything is obvious at first. For example, there is a prehistoric site regularly visited by
Liverpool University students that is unknown to most residents.
Find out more about:
Hadrian's Wall - World Heritage Site
Hadrian's Wall is part of the 'Frontiers of the Roman Empire' World Heritage Site,
stretching from northern Britain, through Europe to the Black Sea, and from there to the Red Sea and across North Africa
to the Atlantic coast. Here in the Gilsland and Greenhead area you can explore interesting Roman sites
and see some of the best preserved sections of Hadrian's Wall. Travelling from west to east you can visit:
Birdoswald Fort
(Open daily from March to October. Times may vary. Visitors with English Heritage membership qualify for an
entrance fee discount).
The fort at Birdoswald, with surely the most breathtaking position above the river gorge, is well excavated
and, most importantly, shows how life continued on the site after the Romans left (between 400 AD and 500 AD)
through the Dark Ages and up to the present day.
The Visitor and Education Centre at Birdoswald gives an insight into the way of life from
Roman times onwards. The fort is high above the River Irthing. You can explore an excellent stretch of the Wall
from the fort east to the escarpment above the extensive foundations of the Willowford
Roman bridge, now high
and dry in a field as the river has cut a new path. It is reached by a steep path and crosses the river by an
elegant new footbridge (lowered into place by an RAF helicopter!)
Hadrian's Wall from Birdoswald through Gilsland
The excavated remains of Hadrian's Wall continue east past the farm up to the village of Gilsland.
(Car park available). A lot of fun can be had looking at how the legionaries coped with
the terrain on which they had to build their Wall – often crazy slopes, or even cliffs. Look out, too,
for the centurions’ marks – and the places where two sections of wall met – or didn’t quite!
West of the fort, at Comb Crag, among the wooded cliffs above the Irthing, is an old Roman quarry, where
it is just possible to find the graffiti left by two Roman masons, signing off at the end of their stint.
The Poltross Burn Milecastle at the east end of Gilsland village offered more challenging terrain
for builders and soldiers alike.
The line of the Wall or its ditch can be traced almost all the way through the two villages.
Roman Army Museum, Carvoran, Greenhead
(Open daily from February to October. Times may vary.)
The fort at Carvoran predated the Wall, housing 1000 men in AD 80, but there is hardly anything left
above ground. The Carrick family who farmed there through the 18th and 19th centuries found it was
much more lucrative to sell all the inscribed stones they turned up with the plough to tourists
than to try and grow crops. As a result there are more inscriptions extant from Carvoran than any other
British site – but none of them are here!
History comes alive at the Roman Army Museum on the site of the fort - learn about the life of
the Roman soldier, view displays and Roman artifacts and visit the film theatre
where you can soar with the eagle and 'fly' along Hadrian's Wall to Vindolanda Fort, enjoying
a bird's eye view of the scenery and reconstructions.
Roman Army Museum,
Carvoran,
Greenhead,
Brampton.
CA8 7JB
Tel: 016977 47485
email: info@vindolanda.com
Website: www.vindolanda.com.
Hadrian's Wall at Walltown Crags
We claim that the stretch of Wall here is the most spectacular of all, towering as it does above a
precipice, among strange shaped rocks and twisted birches.
Roman Roads
The Roman roads were of course, very important – the road east-west, the Stanegate, ran just south of
the vallum and it was joined at Carvoran by the Maiden Way, from Alston. You can walk on the Roman cobbles
and flagstones on parts of this road in the South Tyne valley (see the Haltwhistle Rings walks
leaflets, available from most outlets).
Roman Legionary
We are privileged to have our very own Roman legionary, recently promoted to centurion, Jefficus, who
brings Roman times vividly to life at various sites during the summer, and can be booked for schools’ visits.
Contact Jeff's Roman Experience 016977 47502.
Roman Wall Bus
You can catch the special bus, AD 122, to other excellent sites nearby, such as Vindolanda
(same admission ticket as the Roman Army Museum at Carvoran), Housesteads and Chesters.
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Medieval times
Roman times were relatively peaceful, apart from some important battles, with a regular structure to
life, as revealed by the Vindolanda writing tablets.
Centuries of insecurity followed in an area so far from major urban settlement. Medieval life centred
round halls (as at Birdoswald), then castles and monasteries where there was a degree of protection.
Castles
Explore Thirlwall Castle (the name means the Break in the Wall), an odd one because the Roman stones
with which it was built (they were very handy, after all, and probably came from a bridge) were really
too small for such a tall structure. No wonder, really,
that so much of it has fallen down! (It has been made quite safe now by the Northumberland National Park Authority).
Legend has it that after one raid, the golden table which was the lord’s greatest treasure was kept safe by the resident
dwarf who jumped into the well with it. Sadly, we have yet to locate either the table or well.
Edward 1, the "Hammer of the Scots" stayed here on 20th September, 1306, on his way to launch
another attack on the enemy near Burgh-by-Sands in Cumbria. Tables were turned during the Civil war, 1642-5, when
it was commandeered as a supply depot by Scottish troops helping the Parliamentarians.
At Blenkinsopp Castle (probably originally called Blencan's Hope, i.e. valley) in Greenhead,
the resident ghost is a White Lady who cannot rest until a boy is brave enough to follow her down a
secret passage to retrieve the treasure she had hidden from her boorish husband before disappearing.
It is said that when the Norman conquerors were sharing out the
land there were no takers for this part, so the sitting tenant, one Blencan, was allowed to keep it.
A fire destroyed most of the building in 1953.
Nearby are Featherstone Castle (with an entire ghostly wedding party); Bellister Castle (with a Grey
Man ghost); and the fragment at Triermain (a Weeping Lad ghost and a poem by Sir Walter Scott).
Further away, but well worth the trip, is the castle at Bewcastle, built on the site of a Roman camp –
and don't miss the 7th century carved Celtic Cross beside the austere little church (one of three such crosses
in the Borders; one at Ruthven in Dumfriesshire beautifully preserved in the church there; the third a
fragment of Acca's Cross in Hexham Abbey).
Monasteries and Churches
Lanercost Priory, Augustinian, founded in 1166 by Robert de Vaux, with its wonderful surrounding wall
and perfect kitchen helps one to realise something of the very different life of the monks. Edward 1
stayed there, too. William Wallace and Robert the Bruce attacked it. Abandoned at the Dissolution of the
Monasteries in 1535, it came eventually into the possession of Sir Thomas Dacre. The Dacre Banqueting Hall
dating from 1586 has a fireplace four yards wide and tall mullioned windows – now part of the village hall
and easily seen during the many craft fairs and community events held there. The priory ruins are looked
after by English Heritage and the nave of the monks’ church is now the parish church with good exhibitions
and many concerts as well as regular services.
The tiny church at Upper Denton, with its incorporated Roman arch, is the oldest church in the area, now closed,
but one can see the tomb of Margaret Teasdale in the churchyard.
Holy Cross church in Haltwhistle dates from the 13th century and the old Haydon church above Haydon Bridge from
the 12th century.
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Border Rievers
Until the Border between Scotland and England became an irrelevance under the later Stuart monarchs, this
area was part of the lawless, free-for-all Debateable Lands, terrorised by the great Rieving families,
such as the Armstrongs, the Grahams, the Ridleys, the Carrs, the Littles, the Bells, Charltons and Rutherfords, etc.
who took it in turns to raid cattle and sheep from their neighbours and pursue each other in Hot Trod, to and fro
across borders, from valley to valley. The only safe way to live was in fortified houses, called bastles, where
the front door was on the upper storey, reached by a ladder which could be raised in time of trouble.
The cattle lived below the family, providing central heating. There are remains of bastles incorporated
into houses in Haltwhistle, Beltingham, at the Temon and at Glenwhelt.
The wild country to the north of the villages, described chillingly by Walter Scott in Guy Mannering still
evokes those wild times.
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Military Road
Until 1757 there was no modern road across this lawless terrain from east to west – a fact which infuriated
General Wade who was stranded in Newcastle with his army while Bonnie Prince Charlie was attacking Carlisle.
He struggled as far as Hexham in the snow (it took him 3 days!) after which he abandoned the idea – but
castigated the local landowners who were wintering in the city. They complained that it would be uneconomic
for them to construct a toll road – they would never get their money back, etc. So the road was the first
ever built at public expense – and to save money it was built on top of a heap of old stone for much of the way,
i.e. the Roman Wall! A lone antiquarian pleaded for the monument to be saved, in vain. The ruined bastle
at Glenwhelt was rebuilt as a coaching inn, The Globe. Fortunately, the Wall in our area was not
considered a suitable site for a coach road!
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18th Century Gilsland Spa
The 18th century was a time of other kinds of progress – at Gilsland the sulphur flavoured waters of the
wells near the river offered an opportunity for development - the Spa soon attracted those members
of the leisured classes who lived too far from the ultra fashionable waters of Bath, but who sought the
company of their own kind. One can get a sense of the types who sauntered along the paths in the grounds
of the Shaws Hotel, carrying their little jugs for the spa water, from Sir Walter Scott’s novel,
St Ronan’s Well. Scott and his brother, as young men, on a tour of the Lake District,
stayed at Shaws - in fact, Scott met his bride-to-be here – so the characters in the novel which is
actually set in Scotland, are likely to be based on some of his fellow guests! There is still a well at the
Spa, though it is not the same one from which Scott (and earlier, Burns too) will have sipped. It has been
re-sited, one gathers to the detriment of the taste.
Once Scott became famous, Mr Mounsey, the owner of the Hotel, spun a story to attract visitors, to the effect that Scott
proposed to his Charlotte at the Popping Stone in the grounds, by the river, thus giving the stone its name.
Sadly, this could not have been the case but the story is still firmly believed – and the stone is very
interesting and well worth the riverside scramble to see!
Scott writes specifically about the Gilsland area in Guy Mannering, so look out for Mumps Hall and any
Dandy Dinmont dogs in Gilsland.
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18th Century Coal Mining
From the 18th century, the Greenhead area was mined for coal. Where the seams were near the surface, little
drift mines were opened all over. The reputation of the Blenkinsopp Pit for fair management and good
conditions attracted miners from far and wide in the
19th century, and Blenkinsopp Hall was built for the mine owner.
The terraces at Longbyre and Bankfoot and the splendid mine entrance at Blenkinsopp Castle together with
the odd spoil heap here and there are all that remain easily visible now from that long period of prosperity
and bustle. Without it, however, we would not have the chancel and spire of the church, nor the school,
nor the village hall which was once the Miners’ Reading Room
(with no women or children allowed). In fact, the public buildings in the Greenhead village centre all date
from the turn of the 19th/20th century and the munificence of the Joicey family at the Hall – hence their
harmonious style.
In Gilsland, meanwhile, the tourism encouraged by the Spa continued to flourish, with walks, stepping stones
and guest houses constructed.
The railway, opened in 1835, brought visitors to Gilsland, took the coal (and injured miners) from Greenhead,
putting an end to coaching.
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Blue Streak Rocket
In the early 20th century, Greenhead supported a large population of miners, quarrymen, milliners and dressmakers,
with shops, pubs, football teams, a cricket pitch and tennis courts.
In the 1960s, the bog that is Spadeadam Waste, north west of Gilsland, was chosen for the most exciting
engineering adventure of the post-war period: the Blue Streak rocket. Thousands of tons of material
were used to stabilise the roads that would bring the various components to the site. Rolls Royce and
De Haviland sent their top brains. The rocket mechanisms were tested to perfection before being
dispatched to Woomera in Australia for firing. All the local legends of seeing, from the A69, rockets
fired into the air are all just that – but the tests were dramatic indeed and visible enough.
The project was 100% successful but scuppered by the Americans whose inferior rockets were preferred.
How different things might have been for our two villages today! For tours of the site, contact RAF, Spadeadam.
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Greenhead Local History Group
There is a growing archive on life in the area, together with exhibitions on the "Greenhead Quarry at Walltown"
and "Greenhead in 1953". We meet in the village hall on the first Tuesday of every month.