Descending the hill on which Heddon-on-the-Wall stands, the lines of the Barrier keep close together, and not without reason. The crag on the south, now the scene of extensive quarrying operations, completely commands them. Surely a post must have been maintained on this eminence in the days of Roman occupation, though it had only been for the sake of a look-out.

Passing the eighth mile-stone, where the Vallum is in good condition, we approach the fourth great station of the Barrier. A road, crossing the turnpike at right angles, is close to its east rampart.

VINDOBALA.

VINDOBALA.—The station now called Rutchester, stands on flat ground, but commands a considerable prospect. The Notitia places here the tribune of the first cohort of the Frixagi, a people |RUTCHESTER.| whose country does not seem to be mentioned by any ancient geographer. The inside dimensions of this station, from north to south, are 178 yards, and from east to west, 135; it consequently contains nearly five acres. The Wall started each way from the north side of its east and west gates; so that a a greater portion of the station lay on the north than on the south side of it, as is shewn in the plan of it, [Plate II]. At present, the turnpike road runs between these portions; that on the north has been all ploughed, and three of its sides sloped into the ditch; its general outlines may, however, be distinguished; the southern part is irregular in its surface, with heaps of ruins, still covered with sward.[[74]] In Horsley’s time, the northern part was sufficiently perfect to enable him to discern six turrets in it, 'one at each corner, one at each side of the gate, and one between each corner, and those adjoining to the gate.'[[75]] The Vallum seems to have joined the station in a line with its southern rampart. The ditch on the western side is still tolerably distinct. The suburbs have been to the south of the station, but their site has recently been disturbed by the opening of an extensive quarry which has supplied large quantities of the stone used in carrying the railway over the Tyne, and through Newcastle.

On the brow of the hill, just west of the station, there is still to be seen, hewn out of the solid rock, what Wallis calls a coffin. It has more the appearance of a cistern. It is twelve feet long, four broad, and two deep, and has a hole close to the bottom at one end. When discovered, it had a partition of masonry across it, three feet from one end, and contained many decayed bones, teeth and vertebræ, and an iron implement resembling a three-footed candlestick. In the immediate vicinity of this spot, three fine Roman altars were discovered in 1844; they are now in the possession of Mr. James, of Otterburn, and are described in the Archæologia Æliana, iv. 5.

VINDOBALA.

The etymology of the name of this station seems to be tolerably plain. ‘Vindobala,’ says Whitaker, ‘signifies merely the fort upon the heights. Bala remains, to the present period, the Welsh and Irish appellation of a town.’ I have received a similar account of the word from those acquainted with the Gaelic language. The station, however, though possessing the advantage of a gentle elevation above the contiguous ground, does not stand upon a lofty eminence.

No inscriptions have been found here mentioning the first cohort of the Frixagi, which, according to the Notitia, was quartered in Vindobala. This is of little consequence; the names of the contiguous stations both east and west having been ascertained, the order of the stations in the Notitia is sufficient evidence as to the identity of this with the ancient Vindobala.

The farm-house at Rutchester partly consists of an ancient building, possessing great strength of masonry. A gothic carving on the interior wall of its principal apartment shews that it is not of Roman construction. It was probably a mediæval stronghold, made out of the ruins of the station. It contains a well, now boarded over, which may be of Roman date.

Most of the stones of the farm buildings and adjacent fences are Roman, and one or two fragments of Roman inscriptions built up in the stables, besides some small altars preserved on the premises, give interest to the place.