The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure (Part 3) – Haydon Bridge, Chesters Fort & Museum, Brunton Turret and Corbridge Roman Town

My friend Simon and I went back up to Hadrian’s Wall to continue our adventure following the Wall from one side of the country to the other, stopping at various sites of interest along the way.

We started this adventure last year in Cumbria. You can read about and see photos from last year in the The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure Part 1 and Part 2.

The day was dry and sunny, but it did get colder in the late afternoon. So here’s where we went, along with photos:

Haydon Bridge.

Haydon Bridge Haydon Bridge is a village with an old bridge (photoed left) across River South Tyne. The village is very quaint and worth a short visit. Haydon Bridge is now a walk way, but would have been used as a crossing for people, horsemen and carts. Essential Info: Free parking is available on roads in the village. Public Toilets are free to use and on both sides of the bridge. The village has several pubs, a chemist, a chippy, a Tandoori restaurant and some guest houses. Recommended for a short visit. The bridge is the only thing of note that we saw.

We decided to stop at Hexham next. Hexham is a bigger village than Haydon Bridge, with an Abbey. However as we drove around the town centre looking for parking, all signage said Parking Disc Required, but no signage gave instructions or directions on how to get a parking disc. It was a busy Saturday afternoon, with some event on at the Abbey, so we decided to give Hexham a miss.

Chesters Fort & Museum
Chesters Fort & Museum is magnificent and is a site maintained by English Heritage. It has loads to see and do including: the remains of a Fort and Bath House, a picnic area, spy holes that show where Hadrian’s Wall would have been (including across the North Tyne river), a brilliant museum full of stone works (statues, altars, depiction of Gods & Goddesses) and tools, weapons and jewellery, a gift shop, a tea room and toilets. The only downside to this fantastic attraction is that the cost of parking along with its reasonable admission price makes it an overall an expensive experience.

The signs dotted throughout the attraction are really informative and is probably the best example of signage throughout my entire Hadrian’s Wall Adventure adventure. For example, one sign read that about 500 horses and men would have been stationed at this Fort. The next sign read that a horse urinates and defecates 12KGS of waste a day. This was my Fact of the Day. Just think of all that waste, along with that of the humans.

Essential Info:

• Remains of a Fort and Bath House.
• Also includes a Museum, Picnic Area, Tea Room and Gift Shop.
• Toilets available.
• Highly Recommended.
• Admission Price: £7.30 for an adult with gift aid (£6.60 without).
• Opening Times: Vary throughout the year. View here.
• Parking: Pay and Display at £3.00.

Here are photos from Chesters Fort & Museum:

Chesters Fort (1) – 500 Horsemen would have lived in this Fort.	Chesters Fort (2) – Remains of Stables.
Chesters Fort (3) – Entrance Gatehouse.	Chesters Fort (4) – Hadrian’s Wall will have run across the North Tyne river at this point. You can see the continuation of the Wall on the other side of the bank.
Chesters Fort (5) – The Roman Baths.	Chesters Fort (6) – The Roman Baths Porch.
Chesters Fort (7) – The Roman Baths.	Chesters Fort (8) – Presumably a trough for the horses to eat/drink from.
Chesters Fort (8) – The Roman Baths, a cold bath.	Chesters Fort (9) – The Roman Baths.
Chesters Fort (10) – The Roman Baths Steam Room.	Chesters Fort (11) – South East Angle Tower.
Chesters Fort (12) – Possibly a storage room or stronghold.	Chesters Fort (13) – A well in the main villa, which still had water in,
Chesters Fort (14) – Flooring.	Chesters Fort (15) – More flooring.
Chesters Museum (1) – The Clayton Museum was a brilliant museum full of stone works (statues, altars, depiction of Gods & Goddesses), as well as tools, weapons and jewellery.	Chesters Museum (2) – Entrance. Inside stone works lined each of the walls.
Chesters Museum (3) – A headless statue of Juno Regina (Queen Juno). Apparently Queen Juno was one of the most important deities in Roman Religion, known as the protector and special counsellor of the state.	Chesters Museum (4) – Various altars.

Then we drove through a village called Wall. After passing through Wall we saw signs for Brunton Turret.

Brunton Turret
Brunton Turret is remains of a Turret that would have been one of many along Hadrian’s Wall. It’s in a famers field and there is a designated Parking place at the side of the road. It is a quick site to visit that will take you all of 5 minutes to walk to and see. Photos are below.

Essential Info:

• Remains of a Turret and some of Hadrian’s Wall, in a farmers field.
• Free parking is in designated space at the side of the road.
• Well signposted.

Brunton Turret (1) – Hadrian’s Wall.

Brunton Turret (2) – Where the soldiers would have been stationed.

Corbridge Roman Town – We chose not to go in, as it looked very similar to Chesters Fort & Museum which we had visited earlier in the day.

Corbridge Roman Town Corbridge Roman Town is another Roman Town, maintained by English Heritage. We opted not to visit this site, as it looked very similar to Chesters Fort & Museum. Essential Info: Remains of a Roman Town. Also includes a Museum, Picnic Area and Gift Shop. Toilets available. Admission Price: £7.20 for an adult with gift aid (£6.50 without). Opening Times: Vary throughout the year. View here. Free Parking on site.

Next year Simon and I plan to visit Newcastle to complete our tour across Hadrian’s Wall from one side of the country to the other.

Blog soon,

Antony

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