We undertook a survey of the Vallum at Heddon-on-the-Wall, held at guided walk at the Written Rock of Gelt (inspiring some fantastic poetry), launched our WallCAP blog on International Women’s Day, spent two very wet weeks digging at Corbridge Roman Town and undertook survey at Thirlwall Castle, both along Hadrian’s Wall and on Thirlwall castle itself. However, this is just a small selection of the many activities that were undertaken by WallCAP staff and volunteers last year – did you know that we also undertook training sessions in Lidar and GIS, gallery consultations and geological walks? More on these activities in future posts!

Want to find out more about WallCAP in 2019? Then check out the WallCAP StoryMap. In it, we talk about the project, what activities we undertook in 2019, highlight a couple of key projects and give a sneak peak of the activities coming up in 2020! Click HERE to check it out!

We are a three year project, funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, so there is much more to come in 2020 and 2021. But for now a very special thank you to the amazing volunteers who gave up their time and helped on WallCAP projects in 2019. We couldn’t do it without your help and hope to see you all again this year! Here’s to a fantastic 2020!!

The post Happy New Year! Looking back on the first year of WallCAP! appeared first on WallCAP.

This months post comes from WallCAP’s Community Geologist, Dr Ian Kille.

Ian trained as a research geologist at Oxford and Imperial College and provides expertise on the geology of Hadrian’s Wall.  Since moving to Northumberland in 2006 Ian has been actively involved with geological work, running walks for the Northumberland Coast AONB, running talks and walks for local groups and setting up community training events as part of Northumbrian Earth.

Below Ian discusses some of activities that we’ve been undertaking at Thirlwall Castle part of the Stone Sourcing and Dispersal strand of the project. If you’d like to get involved and sign up to some of our future Stone Sourcing activities, sign up as a volunteer here.

From the north-facing ditch of Hadrian’s Wall as it leads due east up the hill towards Walltown, the jagged remains of Thirlwall Castle are veiled by the russets and yellows of the autumn beech leaves that line the course of the Tipalt Burn. The castle is set on a crag of sandstone on the opposite bank of the burn with chunky blocks of sandstone exposed by the burn-edge where its spate keeps the geology exposed. Volunteers have been busily measuring and examining the castle stones in detail to really understand them by dwelling on their size and shape, their surface markings and most particularly what the stones are made of. Viewing the castle from this perspective is a good starting place to find out more about the raw geology onto which the Wall and the Castle have been built.

Keep heading east towards Walltown and the Whin Sill emerges into the landscape with north-facing crags and south-facing dip-slopes. These form the natural ramparts onto which the Wall was built for the next 10 miles between Walltown and Sewingshields Crags. This 300-million-year-old igneous intrusion cuts the older Carboniferous sedimentary rocks which underlie the rest of the landscape hereabouts; its crystalline hardness and resistance to erosion by the recent advance (and retreat) of ice make it such a dominant landscape feature. As geologically exciting as all this is, it doesn’t bear directly on the geology and landscape directly under Thirlwall, but it will be interesting to see if the proximity of the sill influences some of the material used in constructing either the Wall or the Castle.

Back at the Castle, the underlying rocks are from the older Carboniferous series of sedimentary rocks. The particular succession of rocks are known as the Alston Formation – geologists describe groups of rocks by dividing them first into Periods, then subdividing them into Groups and then into Formations. In this case the rocks are in the Alston Formation, which is part of the Yoredale Group which in turn is part of the Carboniferous Period. The Alston Formation was laid down over a period of approximately 3 million years around 330 million years ago. It consists of cycles of deltaic sediments (sandstones, siltstones, shales and coals) repeatedly interleaved with marine limestones and shales. Between them these provide the materials required to build the Wall, both sandstones for the block work and limestones to manufacture the lime to bond them.

The sandstones in the Alston formation (and in the Yoredale group as a whole) tend to be localised, so that if you trace a sandstone outcrop over any distance it will disappear. For this section of the wall there are several sandstone beds, one directly under the Castle and others nearby. I went in search of these to see if I could find fresh sandstone to compare to those found in the wall. The nearby spoil heap from a now disused and overgrown quarry and the low cliff line under the castle by the Tipalt Burn provided the samples I was looking for.

In the meantime, the volunteers were ever so carefully looking at the stones in the castle wall. The data they have collected now needs to be put into a database and analysed back at the lab. However, the volunteers made some immediate excellent observations. The first is that the larger blocks of stone used to make the window surrounds and the quoins are made of the same stone.This pale slightly green tinged medium-grained sandstone quite commonly showed bedding planes and not infrequently cross-bedding.

The rest of the stones which seem to have the size and dimension of the Wall-stones are a more mixed bunch with what look like two, possibly more, distinct types of sandstone. There is one group of pale grey coloured sandstones, occasionally bedded and another group of finer grained yellow-brown sandstone (see below). This latter sandstone commonly has the rust coloured and beautifully delicate parallel lines and curves, cross cutting the sedimentary bedding and caused by precipitation of iron from water flowing through the sandstone after it was laid down. This diagenetic iron is on occasion so developed that the iron bands become dense and harder than the surrounding sandstone with the latter eroding more quickly leaving the iron bands upstanding.

These are exactly the sort of observations needed to categorise the stones from a geological point of view. This is where the comparison with the fresh samples might prove interesting… I will explore how this went in the next blog entry. In the meantime, do have a look at the blog post Nicky Garland wrote on Thirlwall Castle last month.

@Northumbrianman

The post Reading the Stones: Thirlwall appeared first on WallCAP.

Thirwall Castle looking to the north-east

Thirlwall Castle, located near the village of Greenhead, Northumberland, was built in the 13th century and likely incorporated large quantities of stone robbed from the line of Hadrian’s Wall. Today the castle survives only as a ruin, looked after by Northumberland National Park and protected as both a Scheduled Monument and Grade I listed building by Historic England. Evidence for the reuse of stone from the curtain wall is visible in the size and shape of the stone, which appears very similar to in situ stone found elsewhere along Hadrian’s Wall. The line of Hadrian’s Wall passes the castle to the south and through the field to the east. Although no evidence for the wall is visible above ground, there is a slight mound running through the field suggesting that perhaps some of the foundations of the wall survive under the turf of the field. It is thought that the curtain wall does not survive in this area as opportunistic medieval builders removed what was left to build Thirlwall Castle.

As part of the Heritage at Risk strand of the project WallCAP staff with the help of volunteers have been undertaking geophysical survey of the field to the west of the Castle. A number of volunteers came out to the site in July and were trained how to use the geophysical survey equipment (both Gradiometer and Resitivity) to try and trace archaeological features beneath the ground surface and the Global Positioning System (GPS) and laser scanning to map the earthworks in the field (Note: if you want to learn more about these techniques see Ray Purvis’ previous blog post here). Although there is still some survey to finish off, what we have done appears to have picked up the line of the Wall going through the field from east to west (see below).

WallCAP volunteers undertaking a Resistivity and Gradiometer survey

The results (so far) of our Resistivity survey (the wall and wall ditch is shown as two parallel dark bands running from left to right in the middle of the image)

As part of the Stone Sourcing and Dispersal strand of the project, WallCAP has also been examining the castle itself. The first stage of this work was to undertake a laser scan survey of the castle to get a highly accurate 3D model. A laser scanner fires millions of laser beams, which hit an object and are reflected back. Using these readings, the equipment creates an accurate three-dimensional representation of the structure. In the field we place the scanner in strategic positions around the castle so that it records all surfaces of the walls and windows. The laser scanner also takes a series of photos, which can be overlaid on to the 3D image and provide colour. A number of spheres (pictured) are placed in key positions so that laser scans can be combined into one 3d model of the castle. Nicky and Alex from the WallCAP team went out to undertake the survey over a couple of sunny days in June. Once processed this information was then used by WallCAP volunteers to record the stone itself.

The laser scanner and target spheres

Two weeks ago, Rob and Ian from the WallCAP team, alongside ten volunteers took a trip to Thirwall Castle to examine the fabric of the building in more detail. Project volunteers undertook a detailed investigation of the remains of Thirlwall Castle to assess how much of the stone used in its construction is re-purposed material from Hadrian’s Wall and how much may have come other sources. They examined the geology of the masonry and any possible toolmarks that may give us clues to the origin of the stonework. Using the data recorded during the laser scan, the volunteers systematically recorded the dimensions of each of the stones and made notes about any possible markings on the stone themselves. By examining the stonework in this way we will start to quantify the amount of Wall-stone contained in the castle and calculate how much of the Wall would have been reused in the construction of the Castle. This in turn will help verify (or otherwise) the repurposing of the stone, give more information on the work involved in building the Castle and indicate how much other lost Wall material is still to be accounted for.

WallCAP volunteers recording the dimensions of probable reused Roman masonry

An orthographic image of the northern elevation of the castle created using the laser scan

This is the beginning of a number of other WallCAP events where volunteers will examine structures built in the post-Roman period and identify stone that may have been recycled from Hadrian’s Wall. If you’re interested in the activities we undertook at Thirwall, be sure to sign up to our volunteer portal for more opportunities to help the WallCAP team record these ‘recycled’ buildings! As always, keep an eye on our social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for more details of projects as they are posted on our portal!

Also keep your eyes peeled for a future blog post by Ian Kille, WallCAP’s Community Geologist, who’s going to be writing about the geology along Hadrian’s Wall and what the WallCAP team have been doing as part of the Stone Sourcing and Dispersal Strand of the project. Watch this space!

@Nicky Garland

The post WallCAP at Thirlwall Castle appeared first on WallCAP.

In addition to the work carried out on Hadrian’s Wall, WallCAP was recently invited by Historic England and English Heritage to undertake fieldwork within a site close to Corbridge Roman Town Site (Corstopitum). The fieldwork was designed to try and establish the nature and condition of buried archaeological deposits. Corbridge Roman Town is located close to the River Tyne and 4.0 km (2.5 miles) south of Hadrian’s Wall. The site for the excavation was located on a playing field, north of the Roman Town and west of Corchesters Towers. Resistance and gradiometer surveys were undertaken by WallCAP volunteers in June 2019. The results of the geophysical survey carried out enabled the WallCAP team to plan the excavation of the site, which was carried out over a two-week period in August 2019.

Results of the Resistivity survey of the playing field

Three trenches were planned to be excavated by hand:  Trench 1 @ 20 metres x 5 metres, Trench 2 @ 5 metres x 1 metre and Trench 3 @ 5 metres x 1 metre, over some interesting features identified during interpretation of the results of the geophysical survey. Trench 1 was located to examine a wide linear feature provisionally interpreted as a possible road, and a square feature, a possible Roman building, adjacent to it. Two smaller trenches, Trench 2 and 3, were each located to establish the nature of rectilinear features, each provisionally identified as possible large Roman buildings.

Before archaeological excavation of the trenches took place, turf had to be lifted and stacked. Heavy rain proved to be a problem during the excavation work. On some days, the first job was to bale water and dry out the trenches, before digging could take place.

I was lucky enough to be part of the excavation team on two days. My first visit was on the 12^th August after heavy overnight rain. All three trenches were full of water and this all had to be removed before the work could continue.

I then spent the rest of the day excavating in the large Trench 1 and was lucky enough to find a large piece of pottery 150mm x 100mm (6 inches x 4 inches) approx. It was found to be part of the body of an Amphora and close to the point where two handles were found earlier in the dig.

The amphora sherd in situ

Ray excavating the amphora body sherd

The amphora handle found near that location earlier in the week

My second visit was on the last day (16th August) and after final recording and soil samples had been finished, it was time to fill in and re-turf Trench 1 and Trench 3. Trench 3 being small, was quickly completed and we then started on the large 20m x 5m one. After a hard day’s work, it soon became clear that the trench would not get filled and re-turfed, that day. Another day had to be organised to finish the job, but I was unable to attend.

Final recording of Trench 1 before backfilling

As usual the organisation, planning, instruction and information given by WallCAP ensures a great project. I would like to thank all those involved for two interesting days at Corbridge.

@RaymondPurvis

Editors Note: Here at WallCAP we’ll like to thank all of our volunteers for their hard work, both during the geophysical survey back in May the two (very wet) week excavation in August. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Just some of the volunteers at Corbridge!

If you couldn’t get along to the dig, don’t worry we are planning to have a results evening in Corbridge over the next couple of months to show you what we found. Please watch this space for more details! If you’re on Twitter, check out our ‘Corbridge Roman Town’ excavation moment, pinned to our profile.

Also, although autumn may be slowing creeping in, WallCAP has a couple of more fieldwork projects lined up for the next couple of months. Keep an eye on the Volunteer portal and our social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) for more details as fieldwork dates are firmed up!

@Nicky Garland

The post Corbridge Excavations appeared first on WallCAP.

This image shows a Roman figure carved in the quarry face that was discovered at Hadrian’s Wall quarry during recording work by Historic England and archaeologists from Newcastle University (Copyright – Jon Allison, Newcastle University)

During two recent guided walks, Jon Allison, Project Officer during the recent Rock of Gelt survey, provided an interesting tour of the gorge, showing participants both the old and newly discovered Roman inscriptions and describing what these inscriptions meant. One of our participants, who has visited the gorge of many occasions wrote a poem about the area a few years ago. Her thoughts on the Gorge are below:

During the recent guided tour of the Written Rock of Gelt, Kerry and I discussed the importance of people “connecting” with their landscape heritage.

It is extremely easy to connect with a place like Gelt Gorge – a deep ravine cut into the red Triassic sandstone layers by an amber-coloured river meandering through ancient woodland. Not surprisingly, people have been drawn to this area for millennia. The Romans saw the gorge primarily as a resource site for quarrying stone for the Wall but workers also carved small altars on the quarry faces, as well as heads and other features, and they inscribed text with details of individuals including name, rank and legion. Clearly, leaving their mark was important, a long-lasting declaration: “We were here!”. Remarkably, evidence of three legions associated with the Wall occurs along the banks of the Gelt. As the centuries passed, these carvings and inscriptions evidently became a source of wonder for others working in or travelling through the area. In 1607, William Camden documented Gelt Gorge as having national significance due to the various ancient inscriptions left behind by the Romans, an accompanying sketch also being published. The Victorians recorded the gorge as one of the most beautiful and romantic places in Cumberland, and many tourists of yesteryear flocked to witness the Roman graffiti on what had become known as the “Written Rock” on the eastern bank and “Pigeon Clint” on the opposite side of the river.

As a biologist, I usually write scientific articles so poetry is quite another path, though one much enjoyed. For scientists and artists alike, the natural world is awe-inspiring and human history fascinating; subject matter is endless. Through poetry, imagination may roam freely which is particularly useful for creating a “minds-eye” view of past situations. Greater awareness and conservation of our natural and historical heritage is a major drive for penning my poems.

Gelt Gorge is a place where nature and history combine to give a truly spectacular and atmospheric setting, with evidence of the Romans etched in rock above the swirling river. It is indeed a very special site and a source of inspiration for many.

Janice M.

The guided walk at Gelt is only one of a series of activities that the WallCAP team have planned for the summer including training sessions, fieldwork, talks and much much more. We are hoping to advertise upcoming events shortly – if you’re interested in taking part, or would like to find out more about the project, please sign up as a volunteer by clicking here.

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(Editor’s note: The survey area lay to the east of the recent section of the wall that was uncovered during development. For more information see this blog post from the Heddon-on-the Wall Local History Society).

April 8^th, 9^th and 10^th 2019, saw more of the WallCAP project’s fieldwork being carried out in the first of three fields situated in Hadrian’s Wall mile 11.

LiDAR image of Vallum earthworks to east of Heddon-on-the-Wall

The survey is concentrating on recording the Vallum in the first field after the upstanding section of Hadrian’s Wall, travelling east towards Throckley. This area has been designated as ‘At risk’ so all of the information gathered will go to assess its current condition and be used for planning the future management of the site. The first field is open pasture and used for grazing livestock. We had the field all to ourselves on the survey days! Lumps, bumps and hollows identify the course of the Vallum earthworks that lay on the south side of Hadrian’s Wall. It is here where WallCAP Volunteers are instructed in the basics of the archaeological topographical and geophysical surveys. This sounds very complicated, but essentially topographical survey is the study of the shape and features of land surfaces and geophysical survey is used to detect the features underground. Comprehensive instruction and practice in all types of equipment used on the day was given by WallCAP staff. Time Team used to show all of the various methods used. It is great to be able to get to use the equipment and be part of providing the valuable data for such a sensitive site along the route of Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.

The weather in April can be unpredictable; for my day on site it remained dry but chilly and we even had some glimpses of the sun. The day on site began with a walk to the eastern end of the field being surveyed with Paul Frodsham, the WallCAP Community Archaeologist. We had a general talk and discussion about the aims of the survey and information relating to the earthworks of the Vallum. We were then introduced to the various types of survey equipment.

There were four different types of survey methods in operation:

1. Global Navigation Satellite System
2. Leica Builder Total Station
3. Ground Penetrating Radar
4. Earth Resistance

Techniques 1 and 2 were used in the topographical survey of the site (shape and features of site) and Techniques 3 and 4 were used in the geophysical survey of the site (underground features). In the morning, I was instructed in the use of the Leica Builder Total Station to record points, to map out the shape and features of the Vallum. For the afternoon session. I helped carry out an Earth Resistance survey over the earthworks of the Vallum. After instruction, we used the technique to detect the buried features of the Vallum.

WallCAP’s own Kerry Shaw showing them how it’s done

I could only attend one of the scheduled three days of the survey. All of the WallCAP staff make it an interesting and informative day for anyone to come along and ‘have a go’. Thanks to all involved in its organisation and delivery, looking forward to the next projects and surveys. Put in Wallace and Gromit terms ‘A Grand Day Out’.

Ray Purvis (@RaymondPurvis)

Editor’s note: The survey at Heddon will continue later in the year, although we will post some preliminary data on the Results section of our website soon!

The survey work at Heddon is just the first of a series of Heritage at Risk projects that will be undertaken along the line of Hadrian’s Wall in 2019. All events are free and all training is provided so no previous experience is necessary. We are hoping to advertise the next few projects shortly – if you’re interested in taking part, or would like to find out more about the project, please sign up as a volunteer by clicking here and we’ll be in touch.

The post Heddon-on-the-Wall – Heritage at Risk Survey appeared first on WallCAP.

Hadrian’s Wall Path became the 15^th National Trail in the UK, when it was opened in May 2003. National Trails are long distance footpaths and bridleways found in England and Wales. After some changes due to the economic climate, the Trail now comes under the umbrella of Northumberland National Park.The Trail covers 84 miles, coast to coast and for most of its length it closely follows the route of Hadrian’s Wall. Hadrian’s Wall was first inscribed as a World Heritage Site (WHS) in 1987 and has since become part of the broader transnational Frontiers of the Roman Empire WHS (including the Antonine Wall in Scotland and part of the German Limes) in 2005. Approximately 10,000 walkers a year use the Trail.

I have been a National Trail Volunteer Ranger for nine years. My section of the Trail covers just over three miles from Portgate (Errington Coffee House, Stagshaw roundabout, Corbridge) to Heavenfield (near Chollerford). This part of the Trail runs parallel with the B6318 Military Road, through farmland, open grassland and woodland. My volunteering started with an informal discussion about the role with Kerry Shaw, Volunteer Coordinator (Hadrian’s Wall Heritage Limited). After completing an application form, it was not long before the batch of new volunteers were given two weekends of training. As well as navigation, orientation and first aid awareness in the outdoors; we were given an Introduction to Archaeology.

With a familiarisation walk of the section allocated and being supplied with our distinctive royal blue clothing, tools and paperwork, we were now ready to go out on the Trail. Our main aim is to monitor the condition of the archaeology and Trail, whilst undertaking a wide range of tasks such as: picking up litter, cutting back nettles, brambles and vegetation, taking photographs of problem areas and probably the most important, meeting and talking to walkers on the Trail. During my nine years on the Trail, I have met and talked to a large number of walkers from different areas of this country and others from around the World. Items discussed have been varied and to date, I have not met a walker who has had anything negative to say about the Trail. They are very complimentary about how well it is maintained, signposted and comment about the lack of litter.

After all of my time volunteering, I am proud to be part of a team that is helping to maintain and monitor such an important archaeological site. I am not only speaking for myself, but I feel that all National Trail volunteers will become very protective about their section and welcome the chance to be the friendly face of Hadrian’s Wall Country.

At the time of writing, you can recognise trail volunteers in their royal blue fleeces and waterproofs, which are customised with the National Trail Acorn and World Heritage Site logo. New clothing from Northumberland National Park is in the process of being funded and will be issued to us in due course. There might be a change of colour, but we will still be identified as Hadrian’s Wall Volunteers. With the new walking season starting on the 1^st May 2019, I look forward to the monitoring walks, taking in some magnificent scenery and completing the practical and maintenance work. In addition to this, I am also involved in WallWatch surveys at Housesteads on Hadrian’s Wall, miles 36 and 37, with two other Volunteers.

Ray Purvis (@RaymondPurvis)

[Editors note: A post on Wall Watch, also written by Ray, will appear here soon!!]

If you’re interested in contributing to this blog and writing about any topic related to Hadrian’s Wall then please get in touch. We at WallCAP can provide ideas and help with how to go about writing a blog.

The post Hadrian’s Wall Path – National Trail appeared first on WallCAP.

Brenda was born in West Yorkshire in 1929, took an early interest in the past and, in 1946, went to Durham University to study Modern History. At Durham, Brenda choose Romano-British Archaeology as her specialist subject and was tutored by the archaeologist Eric Birley. This was the start of a long and distinguished career in Archaeology that saw Brenda undertake research on Roman sites across Britain. Involved in the excavation of many of the famous sites along Hadrian’s Wall including Corbridge Roman Town, the forts at Housesteads and Carrawburgh, as well as the Temple of Mithras, Brenda was an “competent excavator and field archaeologist”, as noted by Birley. Brenda has held a number of teaching roles in schools across the North, a lectureship in Archaeology at the University of South Wales and Monmouthshire (where she undertook excavations on Roman forts at Penydarren and Neath Grammar School) and a Research position at the University of York. Here, with Derek Phillips she undertook the post-excavation analysis of the excavations at York Minster and co-wrote two volumes based on the results. In 1958 Brenda was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London.

Brenda’s key work along Hadrian’s Wall focused on better understanding the Vallum. Originating as the theme in her undergraduate dissertation, the Vallum became the topic of her doctoral research leading her to undertake a systematic survey of the entire 76 miles of the earthwork in 1949. Brenda travelled the entire length, on foot, by bicycle and by negotiated transport, noting the surviving features along the way. David Breeze was kind enough to pass along Brenda’s original notebook from the Vallum survey, which the WallCAP project has scanned for preseveration and passed onto the Great North Museum. Lynn Bridgett, a volunteer for the project, kindly transcribed sections of the notebook.

Brenda led a number of excavations along the Vallum during her PhD, particularly examining where causeways crossed the earthwork. Brenda’s doctoral thesis ‘The Vallum Reconsidered’, was completed in 1954, is available to download from the Durham University website. Brenda’s research, published as several articles with David Breeze in the 2000s, changed the way archaeologists think about the Vallum as a monumental defensive earthwork that formed part of the Hadrian’s Wall Frontier.

WallCAP used Brenda’s notes and earlier research to plan and undertaken our pilot project work along a section of the Vallum at Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland. For some information on what we did see the Heddon-on-the Wall Local History Society blog here. Watch this space for news about the project returning to Heddon to undertake more survey in the coming months.

This is the inaugural post of the WallCAP blog, which we hope over the next 3 years will host a range of interesting articles on Women along Hadrian’s Wall and other topics. If you’d like to write an article for the blog, about any topic related to Hadrian’s Wall then please get in touch.

Nicky Garland (@Nicky_Garland)

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