The Works at Heddon-on-the-Wall. Drawn by Chas. Richardson; lithographed by John Storey. 4 1/2 x 6 11/16 inches. Source: Bruce, facing p. 124. 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.]
As we ascend the next hill, and approach Throckley, we have, for the most part, the fosse of the Wall and the mounds of the Vallum well developed. The site of another mile-castle is soon reached.
Beyond it, on the right hand, is a range of houses called the Frenchmen's Row. These were originally built for the workmen employed in Heddon Colliery, but afterwards became the residence of a number of refugees, who fled to England at the first French Revolution.
On the top of a little eminence, at which we arrive before reaching Heddon-on-the-Wall, the north fosse is deeper than we have yet seen it. The works of the Vallum, about fifty yards to the south, are also finely developed. The fosse in both cases is cut through the freestone rock, In the sides of the southern fosse the tool-marks of the excavators are visible. Before entering the village, let the traveller clamber over the tree-crowned wall which skirts the road on his left. He will here see an interesting fragment of the Wall, which forms the subject of the plate opposite. Its north face is destroyed, but four courses of its southern face remain in excellent preservation. At Heddon-on-the-Wall the Wall is only about thirty-five yards from the ditch of the Vallum. The fosse of the Vallum cuts boldly through the village; in the low ground it is used as a pond. A castellum must have stood in this vicinity, which was probably destroyed on the erection of the village. — John Collingwood Bruce, p. 124
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