The Vallum. Cawfields. Lithographed by Kell Bros., Castle Street, Holborn (no artist named; some other plates name J. S. Kell as artist, lithographer, or both). 5 1/4 x 7 1/4 inches. Source: Bruce, facing p. 57. Scanned image and text by George P. Landow from a copy in Rockefeller Library, Brown University. [This image may be used without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose.]
The mounds or aggers of the Vallum, in some parts of the line, stand, even at present, six or seven feet above the level of the adjacent ground. They are composed of earth, mingled not unfrequently with masses of stone. Occasionally the stone preponderates to such an extent as to yield to the hand of the modern spoiler ready materials for the formation of stone dikes. In several places they are being quarried with this view.
The fosse of the Vallum is of a character similar to the fosse of the stone wall; but, judging from present appearances, its dimensions have been rather less. Its usual depth is about seven feet below the natural level of the ground. It too has been frequently cut through beds of stone. The lithograph . . . shows the lines of the Vallum as they appear at the present day, in the vicinity of Caw-Gap. — John Collingwood Bruce, p. 57
[In the original these diagrams appear immediately before paragraphs above — GPL].
Sources
Bruce, John Collingwood. The Roman Wall: A Description of the Mural Barrier of the North of England. 3rd ed. London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer, 1867.
Last modified 8 August 2006