Rivers, Reivers, Romans
The northernmost part of historic Cumberland once formed a troubled border frontier with Scotland. Here we focus on an area stretching north from the countryside around Hadrian’s Wall up to the Scottish border itself. It is a region bordered by the River Eden, the Solway Firth and the city of Carlisle to its west and by the county of Northumberland to the east.
Hadrian’s Wall, the Roman frontier of ancient times, is a significant feature of this district but should not be confused with the England-Scotland border that is always several miles to its north.
Even at the far western end of the wall, to the west of Carlisle, where Hadrian’s Wall and the Scottish border come closest together; they are still five miles apart and separated by that great arm of the sea called the Solway Firth.
The area covered on this page is a portion of England that was deeply embroiled in border warfare and Border Reiving in times past. Overall it is quite sparsely populated, especially in the north and north east around Spadeadam and Bewcastle.
The two main towns of the area are Brampton, to the east of Carlisle, in the Roman wall country and Longtown on the River Esk further north, in Cumbria’s border country. Longtown lies north of the historic disputed area called ‘the Debatable Land’ that was at the forefront of reiving and raiding in times past.
The two big rivers of the area are the River Eden and the River Esk, both of which enter the Solway Firth north west of Carlisle. The Eden is an entirely English river. It flows in from the south, skirting the North Pennines which it separates from the Cumbrian fells of the Lake District to the west. In the north, the Eden passes through the city of Carlisle before entering the Solway Firth.
Entering the Solway Firth from the north is the River Esk, known as ‘The Border Esk’ which further upstream is a mostly Scottish river. On this page we focus on the English parts of its course. Nearby to the north is the little River Sark that enters the channel of the River Esk within the Solway Firth near Gretna. The Sark itself forms the westernmost part of the Scottish border.
Further to the north east, the role of the border is taken over by an earthwork called Scots Dike and then subsequently by a short section of the River Esk before following the Liddel Water and Kershope Burn in Liddesdale.
In the heart of the area covered by this page are a number of smaller rivers as we head back south towards the Roman wall country. Central to this area are the River Lyne, (a tributary of the Esk) and River Irthing, (a tributary of the Eden). The Irthing is the main river of Cumbria’s Roman wall country. Another smaller river, the River Gelt, forming Geltsdale, is a tributary of the Irthing.
River Irthing
The Irthing rises in the western Cheviots south-west of Kielder Forest and forms the Northumberland-Cumbria border for the first fifteen miles of its south-bound course. Eventually, at Gilsland near Hadrian’s Wall, the Poltross Burn takes over this English county border role as the Irthing turns west and then south-west destined for its eventual confluence with the Eden.
There is little to see along the Irthing’s upper course which begins at Irthing Head where the Gair Burn from the north is joined by Tarn Beck from the west. Gair Burn forms a more northerly section of the Northumberland-Cumbria border. ‘Burn’ is the usual Northumbrian and Scottish term for a stream, while ‘beck’ is the more typical Viking term used in Cumbria, though there a few Cumbrian burns as we approach the Northumberland border.
The Irthing seems to have been an eastern frontier for significant Viking settlement and was later a frontier between the Kingdoms of Strathclyde and Northumbria. Ancient British, Celtic place-names of Welsh origin are noticeable as we head west from Northumberland into Cumbria, a reminder of Cumbria’s ancient Cymric roots.
In the uplands, tributaries of the Irthing on the Cumbrian side include Foulbog Sike, Butter Burn (a rare Cumbrian ‘burn’) and downstream near Gilsland we find the Red Beck. The Pike Burn, Padda Burn and Sunday Burn are amongst the streams joining from the Northumbrian side along the Irthing’s upland course.
The upper Irthing is a landscape of moorland interspersed with forestry. To the north is Spadeadam Waste, perhaps best-known for its RAF station, and the King Water, a small river that is a tributary of the Irthing set in amongst the becks, sikes and mosses of this wilderness.
Things seem a little closer to civilisation as the Irthing approaches Thirlwall Common just north of Gilsland. Here rougher countryside gives way to gentler rolling scenery. Features here include Gilsland Spa on the Cumbrian side, named from a mineral spring that was once a popular retreat from at least the 1760s and became the site of a spa hotel. Gilsland is mostly in Northumberland and features on our South Tynedale page.
At Gilsland the Irthing ceases to follow the Northumberland border and heads west where it is entirely situated in Cumbria. Poltross Burn that joins the south side of the Irthing at Gilsland takes over as the Cumbria-Northumberland border at this point.
A little west of Gilsland, the Irthing crosses south of Hadrian’s Wall. Roman forts along the Cumbrian section of the wall such as Birdoswald (Banna) and Castlesteads (Camboglanna) to the west of the river are covered on our Hadrian’s Wall page.
Between Gilsland and Castlesteads Roman fort to the north of Brampton, the Irthing flows roughly parallel to the south side of Hadrian’s Wall for around eight miles. Here the river and the wall are never more than a mile apart.
Other than Hadrian’s Wall to the north of the river the main things to note along this section of the Irthing valley are to its south. Here we find the course of the Roman Stanegate Roman road; a nineteenth century church dedicated to St Cuthbert at Nether Denton; a little village called Low Row just off the A69 and the nearby Newcastle to Carlisle railway. Two sites of particular historic interest are Lanercost Priory and Naworth Castle on either side of the Irthing about five miles west of Gilsland.
Lanercost Priory
Lanercost, on the north side of the Irthing, where Lanercost Priory is situated, has an interesting name because the first part derives from ‘llanerch’, an ancient British name meaning ‘grove’ that is common in Welsh place-names. The meaning of ‘cost’ in the second part of the name is not known.
Lanercost Priory is situated in good farming country in the meadowlands between Hadrian’s Wall and the River Irthing. The priory was established around 1169 by Robert de Vaux who was granted the Barony of Gilsland. The lands at Gilsland had only recently come into the hands of the English in 1157, after they were acquired by King Henry II. They had previously formed part of Scotland along with the rest of Cumberland.
Dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, Lanercost was an Augustinian priory of up to fifteen canons (quite a small establishment) but was a place of work for around forty people including the canons themselves.
During the early years after its foundation the priory lived through comparatively peaceful times with the exception of a heated dispute between the canons and a Thomas de Multon, husband of de Vaux’s great-niece, over rights of ownership to certain lands. The Bishop of Carlisle eventually had to intervene to settle the matter.
Lanercost’s bitter dispute with De Multon caused the canons to become extremely diligent in their subsequent keeping of records. Until 1364 they kept a highly detailed record of land acquisitions and potential disputes that resulted in what is now a precious document called the Lanercost Cartulary, now kept at Carlisle archives.
The priory is also associated with the Lanercost Chronicle, a record of border warfare between England and Scotland from 1201 to 1346 that is thought to have been compiled at the priory and adapted from a lost work by another author who has been identified as either ‘Richard of Durham’ or ‘Thomas of Otterburn’.
Troubled and sometimes violent times had descended upon Lanercost in the reign of Edward I (1239-1307), fuelled by his ambition to assert control north of the border. Edward, known as ‘The Hammer of the Scots’ was a visitor to Lanercost with his queen, Eleanor of Castile in 1280 and was here again in 1300 on his way west to besiege Caerlaverock Castle in Dumfriesshire.
More unwelcome guests during this era were the Scottish army who camped here in 1296 after besieging Hexham Priory. During their stay they set fire to part of Lanercost Priory. The following year the Scots attacked Lanercost again under the leadership of William Wallace. In truth, monasteries on both sides of the border suffered greatly during this era, with the abbeys of Kelso, Melrose and Jedburgh coming under attack from the English.
In the winter of 1306-1307, King Edward stayed at Lanercost Priory during further border campaigns. Accompanied by his huge retinue of followers including his son, the Prince Edward, the king became very ill and had to extend his stay at Lanercost, which proved a huge financial burden on the priory. He would die, of dysentry, on July 7th, 1307 during encampment at Burgh by Sands on the Solway Firth.
Lanercost continued to suffer from border warfare in succeeding years. Robert the Bruce encamped with his army at the priory in 1311 during which time he imprisoned some of the canons and committed acts of destruction. In October 1346, David II, King of Scotland made a destructive attack on the monastery on his way south, though he was eventually defeated and captured at the Battle of Nevilles Cross near Durham later that month.
David’s capture was probably a small consolation for the Lanercost canons whose priory continued to struggle into the following century though it did receive some support from the powerful local family called Dacre of nearby Naworth Castle.
In 1537 the priory was closed, falling victim to the Dissolution of the Monasteries instigated by King Henry VIII. In 1542 the priory lands were granted by the king to Thomas Dacre as a reward for his part in the Battle of Solway Moss. The Dacres, who would build a home in the priory grounds called Dacre Hall continued to hold this land during the following century. The last of their line died in 1716 by which time Lanercost had passed to the Howards, Earls of Carlisle.
During the nineteenth century the priory church, which had come to serve as Lanercost’s parish church, was restored by the architect Anthony Salvin. Lanercost Priory passed into the hands of the state in 1930 and subsequently became a property of English Heritage.
Crossing the River Irthing to the south of the priory is the lovely Lanercost Bridge which is of medieval origin. Now closed to traffic but not to pedestrians, it has been superseded by the present day bridge of 1962 on its immediate east side. Both bridges lead south to neighbouring Naworth Castle.
Naworth Castle
Naworth Castle, (not open to the public) was known historically as Naward and is situated in wooded parkland across the River Irthing, to the south of Lanercost. It can trace its origins to 1335 when Ranulph of Dacre was given a licence to crenellate (build a castle) by King Edward III. The castle seems to have been built on the site of an earlier defensive pele tower.
The castle occupies a good defensive site as the land falls steeply on three sides. Naworth was the seat of the Dacres and later a home for their successors, the Howards, who were also owners of Castle Howard in Yorkshire.
Interrelated with the Percys and Nevilles, amongst others, the Dacres were the most powerful family in the Cumberland border region in times past and were key players in the age of Border reiving, often serving as Wardens of the English West March. Key members of the family included Thomas Dacre, one of the commanders at the Battle of Flodden in 1513.
Naworth Castle is noted for its huge great hall and its Pre-Raphaelite works of art. George Howard (1843-1911), the 9th Earl of Carlisle who resided at the castle was a passionate patron of the Pre-Raphaelite style as well as the Arts and Crafts movement.
Pre-Raphaelite works of art became a feature of the castle following a devastating fire at the castle in 1844. A bas-relief art work above a fireplace, by Sir Edward Burne-Jones depicts Thomas Dacre mounting a charge at the Battle of Flodden. Following the fire, restoration work at the castle was undertaken by the architect, Anthony Salvin, who also undertook work at Lanercost Priory.
Naworth Castle is still a home to Howard family and although it is not open to the public for visits it can be a place to stay, noted for its luxury guest bedrooms and fine dining. The grounds of the castle include an eighteenth century walled garden.
Walton and Irthington
Just south west of Naworth Castle, beyond Catgallows Hill is the little market town of Brampton, but for now we continue west along the Irthing. Here, south of the Irthing and north of Brampton hamlets include Boothby, Great Easby and Little Easby – the ‘by’ of their names indicating Viking place-names, probably of Danish origin.
North of the Irthing, King Water joins the river. Nearby, the course of Hadrian’s Wall and its associated earthwork called the ‘vallum’ can be traced. Just north of the wall, situated near the site of MIlecastle 56 is the village of Walton.
Surprisingly, the name of Walton derives not from its situation on the wall but from the word ‘Wealas’. Its name means the settlement (ton) of the Ancient Britons (Welsh). Interestingly the names Cumberland and Cumbria both derive from the ancient Cumbric or Cymric peoples of the region. The red stone parish church in Walton village dates from 1870.
Near Walton, Hadrian’s Wall and the River Irthing to the south, both change their course and head south-westward. Between the two is the village of Irthington on the course of the old Stanegate Roman road that preceded Hadrian’s Wall. Irthington, named from the River Irthing itself was the location of Irthington Castle, its site marked by a mound on the south west side of the village.
A wooden motte and bailey structure, Irthington Castle was built by the De Vaux family in 1157. It was the centre of the Barony of Gilsland and later a home to the Dacres but was superseded by Naworth Castle after 1335.
Another notable feature in Irthington is the village church, dedicated to St Kentigern, though it only dates to the nineteenth century. To the north of Irthington on the course of Hadrians Wall, sandwiched between the wall and its vallum, is the village of Newtown, with the Roman fort of Castleseads to the east.
West of Irthington and the River Irthing is Carlisle Lake District Airport, part of which hosts the Solway Aviation Museum. Near the airport, the Irthing is crossed by the A689 linking Carlisle to Brampton.
From here the Irthing winds its way south and is joined by the River Gelt from the east before passing near the grounds of the nineteenth century Edmond Castle. This castle, to the east of the Irthing, was designed by Sir Robert Smirke and built for Sir Thomas Graham in the 1820s.
Here, the Irthing now twists and turns its way westward. Near a village called Newby, it eventually joins the Eden, a river that enters this area from the south. Near Newby, the Eden heads west and then south west towards Carlisle. Hadrian’s Wall takes a similar route towards Carlisle, though slightly to the north of the Eden and Irthing.
Brampton
Brampton at the heart of Cumbria’s Roman Wall country is situated just over half a mile south of the River Irthing but because the river changes its course hereabouts, the river also lies a mile to the west of the town. About a mile south of Brampton is the River Gelt and just to the north east of Brampton are the grounds of Naworth Castle.
Named from the broom or gorse that once grew here (‘brom-tun’), or possibly from brambles, Brampton is a market town centred on a little market square that is slightly hidden from its ‘Main Street’. A market was granted to Brampton by Henry III in 1252.
The square hosts a quirky and elegant moot hall (a municipal meeting place) of 1817 that is octagonal in shape and topped by the square turret of a clock tower. There is an outer stair on the clock side of the building giving access to an upper level entrance.
Just off the market square in High Cross Street is a house known as ‘Prince Charlie’s House’. It was used as a base by Charles Stuart, ‘the Young Pretender’ known as ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’ on November 14, 1745 during the siege of the city and castle of Carlisle in the Jacobite rebellion. It was at Brampton that the terms of Carlisle’s surrender were dictated by the prince’s Jacobite army.
The keys to the city of Carlisle were handed over to the prince on November 16, 1745. However, Prince Charlie’s victory was short-lived as the prince was forced to withdraw to Scotland following the arrival of the army of the British government on December 21, 1745.
There are a number of shops, houses and pubs of character in the town of Brampton but the church of St Martin, built of red stone, is one of the most prominent features in the town. Brampton church was built in 1874-78 by the architect Philip Webb, with a mix of styles and is noted for its stained glass windows by Burne-Jones.
The church superseded an earlier church, ‘the old church’ that is also dedicated to St Martin. A much more humble edifice, this lies a mile west of Brampton near the eastern bank of the River Irthing.
On the east side of Brampton, a road called ‘Moatside’ heads out towards the A69 and is joined in the town on its north side by Moat Street on the eastern edge of Brampton. Nearby, surrounded by trees is Castle Hill, that marks the remains of Brampton Mote or ‘motte’, a motte castle without a bailey. Dating to the twelfth or thirteenth century, little seems to be known about this site’s history but it is substantial and includes a twenty feet wide ditch.
The top of Castle Hill is the setting for a statue of the Seventh Earl of Carlisle that dates from 1870. There are good views from this commanding point, some 136 feet above the surrounding area.
It is known to have been the site of a signalling beacon probably dating from the reign of Henry III, but first recorded in 1486. This signal station was interconnected with others to the east along the Tyne valley and designed to give warning of Scottish raids.
Slightly beyond the hill in a triangular green at the eastern edge of the town is the Howard Memorial Shelter of 1930. This curious feature was built to commemorate George John Howard, the 9th Earl of Carlisle and his wife Rosalind Frances.
Hallbankgate and Tindale
To the east of Brampton there are a scattering of little villages and hamlets in the neighbouring countryside. Just to the east are Milton and Kirkhouse along with Farlam Hall as well as Farlam itself to the south. A manor house at Farlam House is mentioned in the 1570s. The hall is now a hotel and restaurant. Farlam Hall was once the home to the Thompson family, one of whom was an agent for the Duke of Carlisle’s nearby coal mines from the early decades of the nineteenth century.
Farlam derives its name from a corruption of ‘fern-ham’, meaning ‘homestead where ferns grow’. Along the Milton Beck a little further to the east about two and a half miles east of Brampton is the village of Hallbankgate, which is slightly more substantial than Milton and Farlam.
In the rougher moorland country south and east of Hallbankgate are numerous traces of coal mining and lime quarrying. East of Hallbankgate is a hamlet called Tindale where extensive mining once took place.
Just south of Tindale is a little lake called Tindale Tarn with the Tindale Fells nearby. From 1790 until 1931 a zinc smelting works operated in this area initially using ore from the Alston area that was smelted for extraction using the local coal. Tindale Tarn should not be confused with Talkin Tarn to the south of Brampton.
Tarn Beck exits the eastern end of Tindale Tarn, while Howgill Beck enters the tarn at the western end. Coalfell Beck on the north side of Tindale is fed by the Tarn Beck beneath Tindale Fells and from here on to the east the merged streams become the Haining Burn that flows east to join the Hartley Burn which eventually joins the River South Tyne near Featherstone Castle in Northumberland. The streams of the Tindale area, though situated in Cumbria, are part of the catchment of the River Tyne. Their waters are ultimately destined for the North Sea rather than the Irish Sea.
A mile or so east of Tindale is a little hamlet called Midgeholme near the Northumberland border and located in a former mining area. It is situated on a stream called the Black Burn (not to be confused with the Black Burn near Alston). This burn becomes Hartley Burn just downstream from Midgeholme and feeds the River South Tyne. The impressive Lambley Viaduct on the South Tyne in Northumberland, is situated two miles east of Midgeholme.
Hayton, Gelt Woods and Talkin Tarn
The River Gelt to the south of Brampton does not host any major village or settlement although the village of Hayton can be found to its south. Near the western end of this village once stood Hayton Castle, a one time seat of the Musgrave family. It was besieged during the English Civil War.
Hayton’s church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, dates from 1780 and features tablets and monuments dedicated to the Graham family of nearby Edmond Castle.
South of Hayton are villages called How Mill on the Hawley Beck; Fenton, above the Trout Beck and further south still, Heads Nook on the Cairn Beck. All three streams are tributaries of the River Eden.
To the east of Hayton, a major feature of the River Gelt valley is Gelt Wood within which we find the ‘Written Rock of Gelt’. The rock features graffiti written by Roman soldiers who were quarrying for stone here during the building of Hadrian’s Wall. In Gelt Woods, the Gelt is fed by a stream called Hell Beck to the east.
North of Hell Beck we find the lake called Talkin Tarn and nearby is the village of Farlam that we have already mentioned. Talkin Tarn is a glacial lake formed by a feature called a Kettle Hole and is the centre-piece of the Talkin Tarn Country Park. The tarn is fed by an underground spring and noted for its icy cold waters.
In February 1570, the Battle of Hell Beck was fought around the stream of that name and on both sides of the Gelt to the west of the Talkin Tarn. The battle followed the Rising of the North (see Raby Castle) in 1569. The influential border Englishman, Leonard Dacre of Naworth raised an army of 3,000 men in support of Mary Queen of Scots but they were defeated by a smaller army under Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth I. Around 200 men were slaughtered and it is said the Hell Beck took its name from the flowing blood of the dead
To the south of Hell Beck is the village of Talkin itself which like Farlam to the north, is tiny yet quaint. The first part of the name of Talkin is from a Welsh (ancient British) word ‘tal’ meaning ‘brow’ and the second part of the name is thought to mean ‘white’.
From Gelt Woods the River Gelt can be followed southward upstream where we find the nearby village of Castle Carrock, a little to the south of the river. It is yet another ancient British (Welsh or Brittonic) influenced name as Carrock derives from ‘caerog’ meaning ‘fortified’.
A medieval castle stood on the east side of the village that seems to have been associated with the Vaux family. On the immediate south of the village is the site of a prehistoric fortified site called Halsteads that is likely the ‘caerog’ of the name. The church of St Peter, dating from 1828 stands near the site of the medieval castle and is built on the site of an earlier church.
To the south east of Castle Carrock the River Gelt can be traced upstream into Geltsdale. A little under three miles to the south of Castle Carrock is the village of Cumrew with a name that derives from the Welsh ‘cwm-rhiw’ meaning ‘valley ascent’.
River Lyne
The River Lyne is situated at the heart of the area covered by this page and forms a valley north of the Irthing and Hadrian’s Wall. Hadrian’s Wall is situated around four to five miles south of the Lyne with farmland between the two.
The River Lyne is a tributary of the River Esk which it joins between Gretna and Carlisle, a short way west of the M6 motorway. Like the Irthing and Gelt to the south, there are few settlements along its course. The only place of note along this valley, except for farmhouses, is a little village called West Linton on the A7 a few miles west of the M6.
To the east is the hall and farmstead at Kirklinton with the church of St Cuthbert of 1845 nearby on the site of an earlier medieval church. Kirklinton Hall is a romantic, ruinous, roofless Georgian house that superseded an earlier Norman Castle built by Richard De Boyville in the reign of Henry I. The gardens are undergoing restoration and former buildings on the hall’s estate now serve as holiday cottages.
About a mile and a half upstream from Kirklinton over on the north side of the river is Brackenhill Tower, which is part of a farm. It is a pele tower of the 1580s built for a Border Reiver called Richie Graham on the site of an earlier tower.
The village of Scaleby with its nearby castle is situated about three miles south of Kirk Linton although here we are straying into the Eden valley. Other villages hereabouts include Barclose to the west of Scaleby with a vintage motorcycle museum nearby. North of here, heading back to Kirklinton is the village of Smithfield and a nearby hamlet called Skitby.
As we head upstream along the Lyne from Kirklinton there are no settlements of note, with the nearest village being a tiny place called Hethersgill about two miles south of the river. It is named from the nearby Heather Burn which joins the Lyne further downstream to the west of Kirklinton.
Heading up the Lyne valley near a tributary called Kirk Burn is a hamlet called Stapleton about four and a half miles from Kirklinton. Here is a church that dates from 1830, but like a number of other churches in the area, it is situated on the site of an earlier medieval one.
Further upstream to the west, the Lyne proper begins, formed by the confluence of the Black Lyne from the north and White Lyne from the west. Following both upstream increasingly takes us into moorlands and fells. To the north, the Black Lyne is fed by a series of tiny moorland streams called sikes, stretching almost as far as the offshoot of Liddesdale called the Kershope Burn. This burn along with the River Liddel, forms part of the border with Scotland.
Starting from the north there are a series of little-known hills, fells and features in and around the Black Lyne and its tributaries such as Short Shank Side; Robbie’s Rigg; Ready Rigg; Glen Dhu; Rotten Shaws; Blind Slack; Routledge Burn; Ringing Flow; Arthur Seat; Sleet Beck and Wakey Hill.
Following the White Lyne upstream to the west from its confluence with the Black Lyne, there is a little hamlet called Lyneholmeford and another called Road Head situated away from the river near Kinkry Hill, a mile and a half to the north. It is along a side valley of the White Lyne, called the Kirk Beck, a little over three miles north west of Lyneholmeford, that we eventually reach Bewcastle, one of the area’s best-known historic locations.
Bewcastle
Set in beautiful but remote countryside, Bewcastle is noted for its church, its castle, its Roman site and for the ancient Bewcastle Cross. It is situated above the valley of the Kirk Beck, a little tributary of the White Lyne.
They stand alongside the Demesne Farmhouse, an indication that these were the demesne lands. In the feudal system of medieval times demesne lands were lands held directly by the lord of the manor (the castle owner) for their own use rather than land rented out to a sub tenant farmer. The farmhouse is late seventeenth century and likely on the site of an earlier one.
Despite the church and castle there is no village here. Bewcastle is a focal part of a community of widely scattered farmsteads although there is a little cluster of houses near a stone bridge called Shopford Bridge across the beck just south of the church. Other than that, the nearest villages to Bewcastle such as Lyneholmeford and Road Head are quite tiny. So too is the village of Sleetbeck, a little further to the west beyond the Black Lyne, and nearly three miles away.
Bewcastle was likely an important site from ancient times and was possibly the home to a Celtic shrine. Later it became the location for a Roman fort that was originally built of turf and timber in the time of the Emperor Hadrian. It was rebuilt in stone during the later second century.
The fort was an outpost used for scouting and gathering intelligence and forewarned of likely attacks and danger. Bewcastle Roman fort was called ‘Fanum Cocidi’ and was most unusual in that it did not have the regular ‘playing card’ shape of a Roman fort but was instead shaped like a hexagon.
Traces of embankments of the Roman fort can be seen. The church lies within the fort’s southern border. The farm and the ruins of the Norman Bewcastle Castle also lie within the area of the fort with the castle situated at the fort’s north west corner.
Fanum Cocidi refers to a native northern British Celtic god called Cocidius. More than twenty inscriptions to this god have been found around the wider Cumbria and North Eastern region for example at Ebchester, the site of a Roman fort in County Durham. Around nine carved figures of this god have also been discovered including one found near Chesters on the Roman wall. It seems likely that Bewcastle had been the site of a shrine to Cocidius.
Bewcastle church, within the fort site, is dedicated to St Cuthbert. The church tower is Georgian but earlier parts of the building date to around 1200. However, it was very clearly a Christian site that dates back much earlier than that. At some point it seems that this place may have transformed from being a pagan site of worship into a Christian one.
The real gem of Bewcastle is the famous intricately carved Bewcastle Cross, a Christian work of art that still stands on the site at which it was erected in the 7th or 8th century. Just outside the church, it is located in the cemetery in amongst gravestones of many centuries later. It has stood here for somewhere between 1,350 and 1,260 years.
The cross is Northumbrian in style dating from the Anglo-Saxon period at a time when Bewcastle lay within the Kingdom of Northumbria. It is similar to the slightly older Ruthwell Cross in Dumfriesshire in Scotland which is also Northumbrian in origin from a time when that area of Scotland lay within Northumbria.
The head of the Bewcastle Cross has long since gone missing but even without this feature it is still an extraordinary work and stands at fourteen and a half feet tall. Most worn of the four faces of the cross shaft is the west face that features three Christian figures which are from top to bottom : John the Baptist holding the lamb of god; the figure of Christ himself at the centre and at the foot of the cross an unidentified figure holding a bird of prey. This may be a depiction of St John the Evangelist or perhaps represents an Anglo-Saxon nobleman.
It is the beautiful and intricate patterns of vines and interlacing symmetrical knotwork that are really eye-catching and of extraordinary quality. The Cumberland and Westmorland edition of Nikolaus Pevsner’s Buildings of England series states in respect of the Bewcastle and Ruthwell Crosses that: “There is nothing as perfect as these two crosses and of a comparable date in the whole of Europe”.
Features in the cross seem to have a number of influences from the Mediterranean and Syria and show some artistic styles that also feature in the Lindisfarne Gospels. The east face of the cross features birds, animals and a vine but of particular interest is the south face which includes a sundial that is thought to be the oldest recorded sundial in Britain.
Well-worn runic inscriptions feature on the west face of the cross shaft along with the depiction of Christian figures. The runes are barely legible but one interpretation is that they state that the cross was set up in memory of King Alchfrith of Deira (died AD 664), the son of Oswy, the Bernician king of Northumbria.
Through his mother’s side Alchfrith was the great grandson of Rhun, the King of Rheged, a post-Roman Celtic kingdom that encompassed Cumbria before it was absorbed by Northumbria. Alchfrith’s queen was called Cyneburh, a Christian convert whose father was Penda, the King of Mercia (he died AD 665).
Interestingly, the north face of the cross shaft features a single runic inscription with the name ‘CYNEBURH’. One theory is that Alchfrith died in refuge here at Bewcastle in 664 following an unsuccessful bid to take control of all Northumbria. In truth the origin, purpose and story behind the cross is not known.
Bewcastle’s Castle, sometimes simply called ‘Bew Castle’ has its roots in the Norman era and was first built around 1092 for King William II of England (William Rufus) after Cumberland was taken from the Scots who had ruled these lands. Rufus also built castles at Carlisle and Brough to protect this newly acquired part of his realm. The deep ditch of the old Roman fort added to the protection of the castle at Bewcastle.
In 1173 the castle was destroyed and the ruins we see today are those that remain of a superseding castle completed in the 1360s by John de Strivelyn. The castle fell out of use and was subsequently abandoned following an attack by the Scots around 1401. It was described as a ruin in the early 1600s. The ruins of the castle are now in the possession of English Hertitage.
After the castle fell into ruin the stone carved coat of arms of De Strivelyn that were once situated above the castle entrance were incorporated into the walls of the Demesne Farm which also seems to have had a fortified nature.
Early forms of the name ‘Bewcastle’ include ‘Buchastre’, ‘Buchecastre’, ‘Buchastre’ and ‘Buthecastra’ and the second part of the name seems to derive from the Anglo-Saxon ‘ceaster’ that referred to a Roman fort or camp. Scribal differences in the spelling point to the first part of the name deriving from the Old Norse word ‘booth’, a dwelling of some kind that also gave rise to the Scots word ‘bothy’. Later, the name became Bewcastle rather than Bewcaster because of the castle that was built here.
Esk and Sark : Debatable Land
We now head into the most northerly parts of Cumberland, near the border with Scotland. Here the main river is the Esk that enters the Solway Firth estuary two miles north of the mouth of the River Eden that also enters the Solway Firth. Just under two miles inland from its mouth on the Solway Firth, the Esk is joined near the M6 motorway on its eastern side by the River Lyne, a river that we have already explored.
The Esk is known as the ‘Border Esk’, to distinguish it from the other River Esks at Whitby in North Yorkshire; Ravenglass in Cumberland and in the Lothians near Edinburgh. ‘Border Esk’ is an appropriate term, as the story of this river is profoundly tied to the history of the England-Scotland border. The Esk’s lower course is in England but the upper parts, including Eskdale are in Scotland. There is even a short section of about half a mile where the river forms the border itself.
Indeed, the seven to eight mile long English part of the River Esk, historically formed the eastern fringe of what was once known as the ‘Debatable Land’. Facing this land on the east side of the Esk is the town of Longtown, not to be confused with the Scottish town of Langholm, further along the Esk to the north.
Longtown, is the last town in England as you head north from Carlisle, but there are of course other English towns much further to the north over on the eastern side of the country in Northumberland such as Alnwick, Berwick and even Morpeth.
Longtown was a planned town of the later eighteenth century, built for a Dr Robert Graham of nearby Netherby Hall and was noted for weavers in the early nineteenth century. At the centre of the town is an inn called the Graham Arms.
At a place called Arthuret, three quarters of a mile south of Longtown is a church of around 1609 on the site of an earlier one. Arthuret was anciently called Armterid or Ardderyd and was the site of a battle of AD 573, long after the Romans departed from Britain. It is thought to have involved local Britons in battle against their kinsman from Dumbarton in the kingdom of Strathclyde.
Other than in legend, the name Arthuret has nothing to do with the legendary figure of King Arthur. Its name is Celtic but has a complicated origin probably deriving from Arm meaning ‘place’ and ‘terydd’ meaning something like ‘fire’ or ‘fury’.
North of Longtown on the east side of the Esk are the grounds of Netherby Hall. This hall, built of red stone stands on the site of a Roman fort and a sixteenth century pele tower (that still forms part of the hall). Netherby was the home of the Graham family from the sixteenth century. Its grounds are the site of the Roman fort of Castra Exploratum which like the fort at Bewcastle was associated with scouting and gathering intelligence. It was also the site of an attached ‘vicus’ or Roman civilian settlement.
Across the River Esk immediately west of Longtown we enter the still sparsely populated country once known as the ‘Debatable Land’ where national rights of ownership were disputed from the fifteenth century. This land is situated between the Esk and the River Sark (which marks the Scottish border near Gretna).
Known to the Scots as ‘Threip Land’ from a Scottish word for a dispute, the Debatable Land included the peat bogs of Solway Moss along with some good quality agricultural land. For centuries there was doubt and debate over whether the Debatable Lands belonged to Scotland or to England. The uncertainty of ownership and associated difficulties of excepting responsibility for law and order attracted fugitives and reivers of the very worst kind to this area. The Debatable Land became a constant source of trouble for the authorities.
Despite the violent efforts of English Border wardens such as Lord Dacre and Scottish counterparts such as Lord Maxwell, in their attempts to drive out reivers, this proved a hard place to tame. The Storeys, who were inhabitants of the area were successfully driven out by the Dacres in the 1520s and permanently fled but other more dangerous and notorious individual reivers soon filled the lawless void.
During much of the Tudor era the Debatable Land belonged to neither nation, but was instead dominated by particular Border Reivers, notably the Armstrongs and Elliots to the north and the Grahams and Bells to the south.
Today, part of the former Debatable Land (between the River Sark and the River Esk) is now situated in England up to the point where the border leaves the Sark and follows a three and a half mile long tree-lined earthwork called the Scots Dike across the open fields to join the River Esk.
The Esk then very briefly, for just over half a mile, forms the border with Scotland up to its confluence with the Liddel Water near the beginning of Liddlesdale. Beyond its junction with the Liddel Water, the upper part of the Esk is entirely in Scotland.
The Scots Dike was built in 1552 after an agreement to divide the Debatable Lands into two parts. Its location was set following a meeting overseen by the French Ambassador who decided which nation gained which portion of land.
The confirmation of Scotland’s possession of Canonbie was an important point in the discussion. The northerly part of the Debatable Land were given to the Scots and formed an area dominated by the Armstrongs. Stretching north almost as far as Langholm and including the village of Canonbie, it is a significantly larger portion than the land that was given to England.
However, the southern part of the Debatable Land included the major road into Scotland heading across the border to Gretna. A significant feature of the English section of the Debatable Land, near the River Sark is the Solway Moss, an extensive area of water-logged peat bog that is still there today.
Solway Moss had been the site of a battle on November 25, 1542 where the Scots were routed by the English. The battle resulted from a fall-out between Henry VIII and James V of Scotland over James’ refusal to convert to Protestantism. The English were commanded by Lord Wharton and Sir William Musgrave with Scottish forces mustered by Lord Maxwell and Sir Oliver Sinclair. The Scots were penned between the moss and River Esk. The losses in the battle seem to have been relatively low, yet over a thousand Scots were taken prisoner.
Today, a notable feature within the English part of what was once the Debatable Land relates to a war and conflict of a more recent age. Just west of the Esk on two extensive sites called Mossband and Smalmstown are a collection of buildings on Ministry of Defence land that can be seen in aerial photographs. These were once the site of a cordite works during World War One. It was one of the most important sites for the manufacture of explosives. Many local women from neighbouring Gretna and worked here. After the war the site became a site for ammunition storage.
The channel of the River Sark joins the channel of the River Esk in the Solway Firth at the western end of the Debatable Land but despite its important role as part of the border, the Sark is a relatively small river. The mouth of the river is, however, the very western end of the Scotland-England border.
Carlisle | Eden Valley (Cumberland) | Eden Valley (Westmorland)
Lake District
Hadrian’s Wall | Hadrian’s Wall Country (Northumberland)
Liddesdale, Eskdale and Gretna (Scotland) | South Tynedale
Kielder | North Tynedale | Redesdale
Hexham | Corbridge and Tyne Valley