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Gentleman's Magazine 1851 part 2 p.384
list, The ground chosen by the Romans to separate Britain
from the barbarian tribes of the north is a tract of high
land, often mountainous and precipitous, intercepted by
ravines or gaps, as they are now called, rivers, and
marshes. With consummate engineering skill the vast natural
difficulties of the rugged district have been conquered; no
crag or hill turns aside the progress of the great mural
defence; upon the steepest heights the stones are as nicely
squared and cemented as upon the lower level ground, and the
labour of the workmen has in no instance been spared by the
use of materials close at hand, for the stones were quarried
at a considerable distance from the wall, and brought up
hills and precipices by manual force to preserve a unity of
construction. The vallum, a deep ditch, runs alongside, and
is only interrupted where steep cliffs render it needless.
In one place this vallum is formed out of a solid rock, and
the huge masses of stone lie upon its banks as if some
superhuman agency had ploughed through the rock and shivered
it into pieces, as the plough in the hands of the ploughman
turns up a furrow in a field. We are as yet only upon the
threshold of contemplation. Military stations
(castra), mile-castles (castella), and
watch-towers, flank the wall throughout its course. They are
the stationes linei valli, the stations of the line
of the wall, of the Notitia. in them were qtred
bodies of auxiliary troops, chiefly foreigners, who in
numerous inscriptions have left traces of their abode over a
long period of time. In the castella were placed
smaller bodies of troops; while the watch-towers, of more
circumscribed dimensions, were guarded as outposts by
detachments renewed daily from the adjoining stations. A
scheme so grand and extensive was the conception of a master
mind; its accomplishment and maintenance through two
centuries, in the face of hostile and warlike people, and in
a climate which must have proved even more destructive to
soldiers from the south than the weapons of the enemy,
impress us with admiration of the discipline, the fortitude,
and the enthusiasm which held together for so long a period
so extensive an empire. The scenes of blood and violence
which are suggested by conquest are softened by the
reflection that in the wake of the sword followed the benign
influence of order, laws, arts, and civilization.
A survey of the great wall and its military appendages is
absolutely necessary before we can obtain a clear insight
into the state of Britain during the Roman occupation.
Everything which remains, throughout this northern tract, is
more or less of a military character. From the Tyne to the
Solway the constructions bespeak the purposes for which they
were erected, and the inscriptions are usually more or less
relating to soldiers and military matters. The castra
and the subsidiary forts are guarded by strong walls void of
decoration or ornament. The domestic villas, spacious and
well constructed for counteracting the rigours of long
winters, present none of the refinements of luxury to be
noticed in those of the middle and southern parts of
Britain. The beautiful tessellated pavements which adorned
the towns and villas of the peaceful and undisturbed parts
of Britain are no where to be met with; but in their stead
the floors are composed of large slabs of smoothed stone
laid in cement upon square columns of stone masonry of the
most substantial kind. Cilurnum, now Walwick Chesters, the
seat of the Messrs. Clayton,* offers the first
example of the internal arrangements of one of the stations
upon the line of the wall. A suite of at least ten rooms has
been here laid open. The
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* I cannot name these gentlemen without acknowledging
the very courteous and kind attentions we received from them
during our tour of the Wall. By their friendly services we
were enabled to inspect comfortably and leisurely some of
the most important localities and monuments. The antiquarian
intelligence, classical learning, and liberality of Mr. John
Clayton is gracefully recorded by Mr. Bruce in the
dedication of his book. Mr. Nathaniel Clayton, the elder
brother, will not, I hope, be offended by my introducing
here a reminiscence of his schoolfellow, Lord Byron, which
[continued on p.385] my fellow-traveller, Mr. Price, has
identified as applied to him: "Clayton was another
school-monster of learning, and talent, and hope; but what
has become of him I do not know. He was certainly a genius."
- Life, Letters, and Journals of Lord Byron, page 21.
Murray, 1838.
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