Fig. 12. CONTOUR OF THE WALL RIDGE,
FROM SEWING-SHIELD TO THE NINE NICKS OF THIRLWALL,
AS SEEN FROM THE TOP OF BARCOMBE
Hitherto I had had to keep almost entirely to Wade's Road. Now, good-bye to the high road, and hurrah for the heights!
Not till we come to Birdoswald, full 13 miles ahead, is it necessary to follow a road again; and even then, after 3 or 4 miles of road, the path lies mainly through fields as far as Burgh-by-sands.
The house at Sewingshields is now used as a shooting-box by Mr. Charles Straker of High Warden, near Hexham. It is built entirely of Roman stones, so it is not surprising that there is very little Wall left in its neighbourhood. The centurial stone, which Dr. Bruce mentions, has been taken out, and is preserved inside the house, where it was shown to me.
The fir-plantation which now shelters the house from the north winds is only of comparatively recent planting. It must have been bleak indeed up there without this protection. The plantation is entered by a stile, just on the site of the Wall, and this is really where the crags begin.
Let us sit a moment on this stile and look back the way we have come.
The ditch of the Vallum and its triple mounds are very clearly marked on the right of Wade's Road, and the Wall-ditch is very plainly visible on the left. The low rays of the sun cast shadows which emphasize the form, and all round the eye can follow wave upon wave of undulating ground, right into the dim blue distance.