We are the Carlisle Ramblers. We open the way for everyone in our local community to enjoy the pleasures of walking.
Birdoswald occupies a commanding position on a high ridge above the River Irthing gorge, with sweeping views across the Cumbrian countryside toward the Solway Firth. This fort’s exposed stonework is exceptionally clear, and its setting combines archaeological interest with landscape drama.
Built around AD 125, shortly after Hadrian’s Wall‘s initial construction, Birdoswald housed approximately 1,000 soldiers, making it one of the larger forts along the wall. The First Cohort of Dacians, originally from what is now Romania, garrisoned here initially, though various units rotated through during the Roman period.
The fort’s Latin name, Banna, means “spur” or “peak,” referencing its elevated position. The site’s strategic value was obvious—from these ramparts, sentries could observe the river valley below and the approaches from the north across miles of open countryside.
What makes Birdoswald particularly fascinating archaeologically is evidence of continuous occupation long after the Roman Empire withdrew from Britain around AD 410. Whilst most Roman forts were abandoned, Birdoswald shows signs of timber hall construction over earlier stone buildings during the 5th and 6th centuries.
This continuity suggests that authority and defensive organization persisted here even as Roman military infrastructure collapsed elsewhere. The transition from Roman to post-Roman Britain, usually seen as a period of chaos and decline, appears more complex at Birdoswald. Someone maintained organized control here for decades after official Roman withdrawal.
The Popping Stone - one large and two small boulders on a path through the Irthing Gorge at Gilsland on the border between Cumbria and Northumberland - has long been a tourist attraction.
It was so named because it was where Sir Walter Scott reputedly "popped the question" to his beloved in 1797.
Car Park adjacent to Gilsland Primary School
