Gents Mag 1851 part 2 p.384

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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
	* 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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