Lanchester Roman Walk

About

Distance: 8 kilometres (5 miles)
Grade of walk: Moderate
Time:3 Hours

From the car park, cross the street and follow the Lanchester Valley Way out of the village. The route is a disused railway cutting and soon opens to reveal views over the valley of the Smallhope Burn. Continue along the main path - do not take the right-hand fork. Continue until you pass a small railwayman's hut on the right and a house (Lizard's Cottage) on the left. Just beyond this, you cross the line of Dere Street, which at this point was heading North-West, towards the next Roman Fort at Ebchester. Traces of the road are still visible in certain conditions. Dere Street was constructed in approximately AD80, and ran from York to Corbridge, and had a series of forts along its length.

Continue along the path for about half a mile, then cross the stile on the left hand side marked 'Public Footpath'. Continue uphill across three fields keeping the fence line to your right. At the top of the hill, the path turns right through a gateway to join Newbiggin Lane. Turn right along Newbiggin Lane, to Newbiggin Farm on the left. Just after a round-ended building, and before a barn, you find a narrow tarmac road on your left. Follow this lane up to Upper Houses Farm. Follow the lane - which turns left after the Lanchester Dairies building - until it reaches the B6296.

The fort was supplied with water by an aqueduct originating as three channels in the hills to the north-west. One of the few sections of the aqueduct still visible is to the west of Hollinside, along the road B6296 opposite Colepike Hall. The embankment, stands to around 3m high by 2-3m wide. Cross the B6296, turn left and continue for 100 metres. Turn right into the lane leading to Middlewood Farm. Pass through the farmyard, and then a gate, on the left. The original farmhouse is the building on your right. It is believed to be an enclosure from about 1800.

It is likely that the field walls and buildings were built from the dressed stone robbed from the Fort. The Rev John Hodgson, curate of the Parish from 1804-1806, noted that at this time, "stone robbing was still a common practice". Immediately after the gate turn right and follow the hill down to the stile at the bottom right hand corner of the next field. Turn right and cross another stile beside a gate. The path now crosses another field diagonally, to a stile beside a gate near Throstle Nest Farm. Go down a few metres and cross a stile on the left near a gate, then, continue to descend the right-hand edge of two fields, close to a tree-lined stream. At the gate to Colepike Mill, remain in the field, keeping the fence on your right. Ignore the Right of Way sign which takes you out of the field and through Colepike Mill (permission granted by the owner at time of route publication). Below the farm house is a former Fulling-mill, abandoned in the mid nineteenth century. Again, the dressed stone used to construct this mill may have come from the Fort.

Dry Weather Option:

Turn left at the bottom of the field, staying close to the fence on your right, coming to the banks of the River Browney and a stile. Cross another field keeping to the field edge next to the river. Go over a style on your right and cross the river using a set of stepping-stones. Now climb the steep slope as way-marked to a stone stile and join a narrow lane. Turn left along the lane to Greenwell Farm.

Alternative Route - Avoiding the stepping stones after heavy rain:

After heavy rain, the stepping stones west of Colepike Mill may be underwater. A drier route from the corner of the field beside Colepike Mill can be found through the gates, passing between the old mill building and the house. Pass through the gate ahead and follow the access lane. When you reach the end of the lane, turn left along another lane and re-join the main route at Greenwell Farm. Take the sign-posted stile on the left, just beyond the entrance to Greenwell Farm.

Look to your left and the ridge which stands above Lanchester. It was here that Longovicium, Lanchester's Roman Fort, was located. You can clearly see the scar left by Dere Street as it runs up the hill opposite Greenwell Farm. The fort covers an area of approx. 2.2 hectares (2200 square metres), and at one time accommodated a part mounted cohort of up to 800 infantry soldiers, and 240 cavalry troopers with horses.

Angle half-right to a stone stile by the upper of the two farm gates. Follow the field edge to reach the B6301. Yet again the path crosses the line of Dere Street a few yards beyond the stile. The Roman road crossed the River Browney at its bend below, and linked Longovicium to the next Roman Fort to the south, at Binchester. Cross the road and turn left. Follow the road back into Lanchester, which unfortunately has no roadside pavement until you pass the entrance to Greenwell Ford. Follow Ford Road to its junction with Cadger Bank (B6296). Here you have two options:

Option 1 - To the Fort:

Turn left and climb up Cadger Bank. At this point the fort is about half a mile further up the road. A small information board, located in a lay-by on the left hand side of the road, gives some information about the site, but access is not permitted. To return, retrace your route to the junction and proceed as Option 2.

Option 2 - To the start:

Turn right and immediately, but carefully, cross the road. Follow the Lanchester Valley Way back to the starting point.