360º Virtual Tours & Information
Click on an image below to view more scenes at Chesters Roman Fort, Northumberland

Chesters Roman Fort Click to View Virtual Tour

The Bathhouse Click to View Virtual Tour

Cilurnum or Cilurvum was a fort on Hadrian’’s Wall mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum. It is now identified with the fort found at Chesters (also known as Walwick Chesters to distinguish it from other sites named Chesters in the vicinity) near the village of Walwick, Northumberland, England. It was built in 123 AD, just after the wall’’s completion.Cilurnum is considered to be he best preserved Roman cavalry fort along Hadrian’’s Wall.

There is a museum on the site, housing finds from the fort and elsewhere along the wall.ConstructionThe site guarded a bridge carrying the military road behind the wall across the River North Tyne at this point, whose abutments survive. It was a cavalry fort at its foundation, for retaliatory raids into barbarian areas north of the wall, then given over to infantry later. Hadrian himself encouraged the “Cult of Disciplina” amongst legions stationed at the wall, and an early inscription on an altar dedicated to Disciplina, found in 1978, indicates the earliest known military presence was a wing of cavalry, ala Augusta ob virtutem appellata (“named Augusta because of its valour”). Inscriptions have also been found showing the First Cohort of Dalmatians and the First Cohort of Vangiones from Upper Rhineland in Germany were also stationed here.

Excavation
In the early 1800s Nathaniel Clayton, owner of Chesters House and Estate, moved hundreds of tons of earth to cover over the last remains of the fort as part of his parkland landscaping, thereby creating a smooth uninterrupted grassland slope down to the River Tyne; he collected, before they disappeared, a number of Roman artefacts which he preserved in the family. However his son John Clayton, a noted antiquarian, removed all his father’’s work, exposing the fort, excavating, and establishing a small museum for his finds. John Clayton also made excavations at Housesteads Fort, Carrawburgh Mithraic Temple, and Carvoran, amongst others.

Museum
The museum was commissioned in 1895 and opened in 1903. It is a grade II* listed building and was designed by Richard Norman Shaw. It displays part of John Clayton’’s collection of Roman finds.

Read More on Wikipedia

Go to Chesters Fort, English Heritage official website

360º Virtual Tours & History

360º Virtual Tour

Millennium Bridge, Gateshead Click to View Virtual Tour

Information

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge is a pedestrian and cyclist tilt bridge spanning the River Tyne in England between Gateshead on the south bank, and the Quayside of Newcastle upon Tyne on the north bank. The award-winning structure was conceived and designed by architects Wilkinson Eyre and structural engineers Gifford. The bridge is often referred to as the ‘Winking Eye Bridge’ due to its elliptical shape and its rotational movement.

The bridge was lifted into place in one piece by the Asian Hercules II, one of the world’s largest floating cranes, on 20 November 2000. It was opened to the public on 17 September 2001, and was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II on 7 May 2002. The bridge, which cost £22m to build, was part funded by the Millennium Commission and European Regional Development Fund. It was built by Volker Stevin.
Already acclaimed worldwide for its physical and aesthetic beauty, it has fast become a significant tourist attraction in its own right. The bridge was the focus of a Spencer Tunick installation on 17 July 2005.

Six 45 cm diameter Hydraulic rams (three on each side, each powered by a 55 kW electric motor) rotate the bridge back on large bearings to allow small ships and boats (up to 25 m tall) to pass underneath. The bridge takes as little as 4.5 minutes to rotate through the full 40° from closed to open, depending on wind speed. Its appearance during this manoeuvre has led to it being nicknamed the “Blinking Eye Bridge”.

The bridge has operated reliably since construction, opening to allow river traffic to pass. It also opens periodically for sightseers and for major events such as the Northumbrian Water University Boat Race and the Cutty Sark Tall Ships’ Race. Its reputation was untarnished until October 2004 when the failure of a £200 circuit board prevented the bridge from opening.

Gateshead Council, official website

Millennium Bridge, Wikipedia

Virtual Tours & History

360º Virtual Tours

Sycamore Gap, Hadrians Wall Click to View Virtual Tour

History of Hadrian’s Wall

Hadrian’s Wall (Latin Vallum Aelium, Italian Vallo di Adriano) is a stone or turf and timber fortification built by the Roman Empire across the width of what is now northern England. Begun in 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall in what is now Scotland. Hadrian’s Wall is the best known of the two because its physical remains are most evident today.

Opinions differ, but the growing consensus is that the Wall was built as a readily defended fortification which clearly defined the northern frontier of the Roman Empire in Britain (Britannia). It would also improve economic stability and provide peaceful conditions in the frontier zone.

The wall was the most heavily fortified border in the Empire. In addition to its role as a military fortification, it is thought that many of the gates through the wall would have served as customs posts to allow trade and levy taxation.

A significant portion of the wall still exists, particularly the mid-section, and for much of its length the wall can be followed on foot by Hadrian’s Wall Path or by cycle on National Cycle Route 72. It is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern England, where it is often known simply as the Roman Wall. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. In 2005 it became part of the larger “Frontiers of the Roman Empire” World Heritage Site which also includes sites in Germany.

English Heritage, a government organization in charge of managing the historic environment of England, describes it as “the most important monument built by the Romans in Britain”.

Dimensions
Hadrian’s Wall was 80 Roman miles (73.5 statute miles or 117 kilometres) long, its width and height dependent on the construction materials which were available nearby. East of River Irthing the wall was made from squared stone and measured 3 metres (9.7 ft) wide and five to six metres (16–20 ft) high, while west of the river the wall was made from turf and measured 6 metres (20 ft) wide and 3.5 metres (11.5 ft) high. This does not include the wall’s ditches, berms, and forts. The central section measured eight Roman feet wide (7.8 ft or 2.4 m) on a 10-foot (3.0 m) base. Some parts of this section of the wall survive to a height of 10 feet (3.0 m).

The Route
Hadrian’s Wall extended west from Segedunum at Wallsend on the River Tyne to the shore of the Solway Firth. The A69 and B6318 roads follow the course of the wall as it starts in Newcastle upon Tyne to Carlisle, then along the northern coast of Cumbria. The wall is entirely in England and south of the border with Scotland by 15 kilometres (9 mi) in the west and 110 kilometres (68 mi) in the east.

The above article is courtesy of Wikipedia: Read More

A new website – www.hadrians-wall.org – has a number of features including inspiring photography, new interactive maps, itinerary ideas and enhanced information on things to see and do.

More information is available on the Unesco website “Frontiers of the Roman Empire”: Read More

History
The Northumberland Coast is a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covering 39 miles of coastline from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to the River Coquet estuary in the north-east of England. Features include: Alnmouth, Bamburgh, Beadnell, Budle Bay, Cocklawburn Beach, Craster, Dunstanburgh Castle, the Farne Islands, Lindisfarne, Seahouses and Amble.

The coastal area is situated to the east of the A1 road. It is sparsely populated and includes sandy beaches, sand dunes, rugged cliffs and isolated islands. It includes two National Nature Reserves. Fortresses and peel towers along the coast are evidence of past conflicts between the English and Scots in this border area. Coal fields are nearby and ’sea coal’ is washed up on the beaches.

The stretch around Bamburgh is notable for two reasons: the imposing Bamburgh Castle, overlooking the beach, seat of the former Kings of Northumbria, and at present owned by the Armstrong family and its association with the Victorian heroine, Grace Darling.

The extensive sandy beach to the east of Bamburgh was awarded the Blue Flag rural beach award in 2005. The Bamburgh Dunes, an area of sand dunes which are a Site of Special Scientific Interest, stand behind the award winning beach. Bamburgh is popular with holidaymakers and is within the Northumberland Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Bamburgh Castle, then called Din Guardi, may have been the capital of the Brythonic kingdom of Bryneich between about AD 420 and 547. In 547 the castle was taken by the invading Angles led by Ida son of Eoppa and was renamed Bebbanburgh by one of his successors, Æthelfrith, after Æthelfrith’s wife Bebba, according to the Historia Brittonum. From then onwards the castle became the capital of the Anglian kingdom of Bernicia until it merged with its southern neighbour, Deira, in 634. After the two realms united as Northumbria the capital was moved to York.

Henry VI ruled all England (in name) from Bamburgh in 1464, during the Wars of the Roses. The castle was eventually reduced by artillery.
Thomas Malory considered Bamburgh to be Lancelot’s castle Joyous Gard. The Victorian poet Algernon Swinburne agreed and called it “The noblest hold in all the North.”

“They saw the help and strength of Joyous Gard,
The full deep glorious tower that stands over
Between the wild sea and the broad wild lands…”

Swinburne swam here, as did the novelist E. M. Forster who adopted the Forsters of Bamburgh as his ancestors.

The Geography
The most notable features of the region include The Whin Sill which is a tabular layer of igneous rock, or sill, in County Durham and Northumberland, in the northeast of England. It lies partly in the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and partly in Northumberland National Park.

Formed of dolerite (a basaltic rock) 295 million years ago, the Whin Sill is part of a sheet of rock stretching from Teesdale, home of various waterfalls, along a northerly line to Berwick, home of the Farne Islands. Bamburgh Castle, Dunstanburgh Castle, Lindisfarne Castle and stretches of Hadrian’s Wall all strategically take advantage of high, rocky cliff lines formed by the sill.

The above article is courtesy of Wikipedia: Read More

Virtual Tours & History

360º Virtual Tours

Prudhoe Castle, Northumberland Click to View Virtual Tour	The Chapel, Prudhoe Castle Click to View Virtual Tour
The Courtyard, Prudhoe Castle Click to View Virtual Tour	The Keep, Prudhoe Castle Click to View Virtual Tour

History of Prudhoe Castle, Northumberland

Archaeological excavations have shown that the first castle on the site was a Norman motte and bailey, built sometime in the mid 11th century. Following the Norman Conquest, the Umfraville family took over control of the castle. Robert d’Umfraville was formally granted the barony of Prudhoe by Henry I but it is likely that the Umfravilles had already been granted Prudhoe in the closing years of the 11th century. The Umfravilles (probably Robert) initially replaced the wooden palisade with a massive rampart of clay and stones and subsequently constructed a stone curtain wall and gatehouse.

In 1173 William the Lion of Scotland invaded the North East to claim the earldom of Northumberland. The head of the Umfraville family, Odinel II, refused to support him and as a result the Scottish army tried to take Prudhoe Castle. The attempt failed as the Scots were not prepared to undertake a lengthy siege. The following year William attacked the castle again but found that Odinel had strengthened the garrison, and after a siege of just three days the Scottish army left. Following the siege, Odinel further improved the defences of the castle by adding a stone keep and a great hall.

Odinel died in 1182 and was succeeded by his son Richard. Richard became one of the barons who stood against King John, and as a result forfeited his estates to the crown. They remained forfeited until 1217, the year after King John’s death. Richard died in 1226 and was succeeded by his son, Gilbert, who was himself succeeded in 1245 by his son Gilbert. Through his mother, Gilbert II inherited the title of Earl of Angus, with vast estates in Scotland, but he continued to spend some of his time at Prudhoe. It is believed that he carried out further improvements to the castle. Gilbert took part in the fighting between Henry III of England and his barons, and in the Scottish expeditions of Edward I. He died in 1308 and was succeeded by his son, Robert D’Umfraville IV. In 1314, Robert was taken prisoner by the Scots at Bannockburn, but was soon released, though he was deprived of the earldom of Angus and of his Scottish estates. In 1316 King Edward granted Robert 700 marks to maintain a garrison of 40 men-at-arms and 80 light horsemen at Prudhoe.

In 1381 the last of the line, Gilbert III, died without issue and his widow married Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland. On her death in 1398, the castle passed to the Percy family.

The Percies added a new great hall to the castle shortly after they took possession of it. Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland fought against Henry IV and took part in the Battle of Shrewsbury, for which act he was attainted and his estates, including Prudhoe, were forfeited to the Crown in 1405. That same year it was granted to the future Duke of Bedford, (a son of Henry IV) and stayed in his hands until his death in 1435, whereupon it reverted to the Crown.

The Percies regained ownership of the Prudhoe estates in 1440, after a prolonged legal battle. However, Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland fought on the Lancastrian side in the Wars of the Roses and was killed at the Battle of Towton in 1461. In 1462 Edward IV granted Prudhoe to his younger brother George, Duke of Clarence. The latter only possessed the castle briefly before the king granted it to Lord Montague.

The castle was restored to the fourth Earl in 1470. The principal seat of the Percys was Alnwick Castle and Prudhoe was for the most part let out to tenants. In 1528 however Henry Percy 6th Earl was resident at the castle as later was his brother Sir Thomas Percy. Both the Earl and Sir Thomas were heavily involved in the Pilgrimage of Grace in 1536 and both were convicted of treason and executed. Following forfeiture of the estates the castle was reported in August 1537 to have habitable houses and towers within its walls, although they were said to be somewhat decayed and in need of repairs estimated at £20.

The castle was once again restored to Thomas Percy, the 7th Earl in about 1557. He was convicted of taking part in the Rising of the North in 1569. He escaped, but was recaptured and was executed in 1572.
The castle was thereafter let out to many and various tenants and was not used as a residence after the 1660s. In 1776 it was reported to be ruinous.

Between 1808 and 1817, Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland carried out substantial repairs to the ancient fabric and replaced the old dwellings within the walls with a georgian mansion adjoining the keep.
In 1966 the castle was given over to the Crown and is now in the custody of English Heritage and is open to the public.

The castle stands on a ridge about 150 feet (46 m) on the south bank of the River Tyne. It is partly enclosed by a deep moat. The ground to the north falls away steeply to the river. The castle entrance is on the south side and is flanked by a mill pond on the left and a ruined water mill on the right. The castle is entered by a barbican dating from the first half of the 14th century. The gatehouse, dating from the early 12th century, leads into the outer ward, which contains the remains of several buildings. At the north side, against the curtain wall, are the remains of the Great Hall, measuring 60ft by 46ft (18m by 14m), built by the Percies when they took over the castle. At the end of the 15th century a new hall was built to the west to replace the existing one.

On the west side of the outer ward is the manor house, built in the early 19th century, and containing a visitor’s shop and exhibition rooms. At the south end of the manor house is a gateway leading into the inner ward. The main feature of the inner ward is the keep, dating from the 12th century. The keep has walls 10 feet (3.0 m) thick and its internal dimensions are 20ft by 24ft (7.3m by 6.1m). It originally consisted of two storeys beneath a double-pitched roof.

Read more: Prudhoe Castle (English Heritage), official website
The above article is courtesy of Wikipedia: Read More

Virtual Tours & History

360º Virtual Tours

The Cloisters, Lanercost Priory Click to View Virtual Tour	The Nave, Lanercost Priory Click to View Virtual Tour
The Tower, Lanercost Priory Click to View Virtual Tour	Undercroft, Lanercost Priory Click to View Virtual Tour

History of Lanercost Priory

Lanercost Priory was founded in 1165 AD to house Augustinian Canons. It is situated at the village of Lanercost, Cumbria, England.
It was subject to raids and wars, since the border with Scotland was about 15 miles to the north. It suffered a crippling economic burden when Edward I was resident there for six months during his last campaign in 1306-7 before moving onto Carlisle and then dying at Burgh-by-Sands immediately before he could enter Scotland. All this was recorded in the Lanercost Chronicle.

Lanercost was dissolved as a priory in 1538 by Henry VIII. A small part of its nave was roofed over for use as a parish church, and in the 19th century the whole nave was roofed and divided from the crossing by a wall to make a larger parish church, which still functions today. In its churchyard is the tomb of Thomas Addison.

Hadrian’s Wall, the most important Roman monument in Great Britain is situated about one kilometre north of Lanercost Priory. The wall, was, unlike common perception, not a major battlefront to prevent invasion, but a barrier to inderdict unwanted immigrants from the north, who, the Romans thought, were a threat to the peacefulness of settled Brittania. The River Irthing marked an important transition in construction of Hadrian’s Wall according to C. Michael Hogan. West of the River Irthing “turf and timber prevailed, while cut stones with limed mortar interstices were used to the east” of the river. At Gilsland the tributary Poltross Burn flows into the River Irthing. Crossing Hadrian’s Wall at Gilsland, its course as it turns west is lined with sites from Roman Britain, including Birdoswald Roman Fort, at the top of another steep gorge carved by the river from the deep till overlying the area.

The priory has an unusual medieval stone carving called the Lancercost Cross with an inscription dating back to 1214. Originally the cross was set just outside the entrance to the church but today, whilst the stump of the cross still remains there, the main shaft is housed inside the priory.

Read more: Lanercost Priory (English Heritage), official website
The above article is courtesy of Wikipedia: Read More

Virtual Tour & History

360º Virtual Tour

Souter Lighthouse Click to ViewVirtual Tour

History of Souter Lighthouse

The lighthouse is located on Lizard Point at Marsden, but takes its name from Souter Point, which is located a mile to the south. This was the intended site for the lighthouse, but it was felt that Lizard Point offered better visibility, as the cliffs there are higher, so the lighthouse was built there instead. The Souter Lighthouse name was retained in order to avoid confusion with the then recently built Lizard Lighthouse in Cornwall.

Designed by James Douglass and opened in 1871, the lighthouse was built due to the dangerous reefs directly under the water in the surrounding area. In one year alone – 1860 – there were 20 shipwrecks. This contributed to making this coastline the most dangerous in the country with an average of around 44 shipwrecks per every mile of coastline.

Souter Lighthouse was the first to use alternating electric current, the most advanced lighthouse technology of its day. Douglass also designed the fourth incarnation of the Eddystone Lighthouse off the coast of Plymouth.
The 800,000 candle power light was generated using carbon arcs and not a standard filament bulb and could be seen for up to 26 miles. The electricity was generated using a steam engine located in the engine house.

The lighthouse today
Today owned by the National Trust and open to the public, the lighthouse’s engine room, light tower and keeper’s living quarters are all on view. There is also an outdoor play area, Trusty Club and indoor activities to accommodate young visitors. Two of the former lighthouse keepers’ cottages are used as National Trust holiday cottages.
The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1988, but continued to serve as a radio navigation beacon up until 1999 when it was finally closed.
The lighthouse is said to be haunted and has even featured on British TV’s Most Haunted ghost hunting programme.

Present-day foghorn
The foghorn, which is reputed to be the loudest in Britain, has seen many changes over the years. When the lighthouse was first built, a single horn of a clay and iron pipe design was provided. This was replaced after a few years by twin horns to the same design, angled so as to spread the noise up and down the coast. By World War II, these had been superseded by twin Rayleigh trumpets. Finally, in the early 1960s, these in turn were replaced by the present-day diaphone fog horns. A reminder of their predecessors can be seen at the seaward corners of the foghorn station.

All produced a considerably loud tone which could be heard as far north as Whitley Bay, as far south as Sunderland and for several miles inland as far as Jarrow. It is reported that the lighthouse keepers were paid an extra 2d noisy money for the inconvenience of working shifts when the foghorn was in action. There was no such concession for local residents, however, who had to endure a five-second blast every 30 seconds in poor weather right up until 1988, when the lighthouse and foghorn were taken out of service by Trinity House.
The foghorn remains in working order and is sounded on special occasions throughout the year, most notably during the monthly Engine Room Day, which is held at the lighthouse during the summer months.

The above article is courtesy of Wikipedia: Read More

360º Virtual Tours
Click on an image below to view more scenes at Hexham Abbey

Hexham Abbey, interior Click to View Virtual Tour

Hexham Abbey, exterior Click to View Virtual Tour

360º Virtual Tours
Click on an image below to view more scenes at Bamburgh Castle

The Kings Hall, Bamburgh Castle Click to View Virtual Tour	View from the Dunes, Bamburgh Castle Click to View Virtual Tour
The Court Room, Bamburgh Castle Click to View Virtual Tour	The Cross Hall, Bamburgh Castle Click to View Virtual Tour

360º Virtual Tours & History
Click on an image below to view more scenes at Belsay Hall

Belsay Hall Click to View Virtual Tour	Quarry Garden, Belsay Hall Click to View Virtual Tour
Crag Walk, Belsay Hall Click to View Virtual Tour

Belsay Hall is a 19th century country mansion located at Belsay, Northumberland. It is a Grade I listed building.

The house was built between 1810 and 1817 for Sir Charles Monck (then of Belsay Castle close by) to a design by architect John Dobson. It is built in ashlar with a Lakeland slate roof in the Greek Doric style. The house measures 100 feet (30 m) square with a lower kitchen wing attached to the north side. The rooms on three sides of the house are two storeys, although the range bordering the kitchen wing has three storeys, allowing for more rooms to house servants, nurseries, etc. This side of the house was badly affected by dry rot in the 1970s and, following remedial work, it has been left as a weather-proof shell to illustrate how the house was built.

The entire house is unfurnished and maintained in a condition of benign decay, with only necessary structural maintenance undertaken. This allows it to be used as a setting for bespoke art installations each summer.

The hall was the residence of the Middleton family until 1962. It is administered by English Heritage and is open to the public.

Read more on English Heritage: Belsay Hall, official website
Read more on Wikipedia