Further to my blog entry Tin Soldiering On: Needing the eye of faith . (A jaunt on my hobby horse) (tonystoysoldiers.blogspot.com) I promised (threatened) to post some more photos of the supposed Rome signal station . Here is a better view of the earthworks showing the double ditches looking South just North of the summit .
From the summit looking NW , the location of the Roman fort at Watercrook is marked by the arrow . Note it is not as pleasant a day as my other set of photos with a coolish strong wind .
Looking the other way more or less due South , somewhere in the murk pointed out by the arrow is Lancaster which is the next fort - it is assumed the Romans used beacons for signaling, visibility must have been a problem then as well .
The Romans seem to have dug a couple of water cisterns down to the bed rock to gather rain water , here is the southern one (looking south) - dog for scale - in wet weather these still gather rain water .
Looking North from the summit , the remains of the two ditches are marked 1 and 2 and the northern cistern by the arrow - once more the dog obligingly gives scale to the photo .
The northern cistern (looking South) - the dog regularly drinks from these sites - I'm assuming they were dug out and kept clear in antiquity . Well that has got this hobby horse out of my system and I promise not to bother my readers with it again - I thank you for indulging an old man .
More amazing photos and interesting perspectives Tony! I really enjoyed them!
ReplyDeleteThanks, it's one of my favourite places.
DeleteThanks for sharing, Tony - excellent annotated views and captions to the photos. As a reader of Rosemary Sutcliff Eagle of the Ninth, it is tempting to reconstruct Time Team Victor Ambrus illustration style what wet, cold, boring and edgy life on a blowy northern signal fort would be. Amazing that the water supply is still there and drinkable.
ReplyDeleteIf the cisterns where cleaned out the would hold an impressive amount of rainwater - well depending on the weather.
DeleteImpressive photos
ReplyDeleteWas the fort at Burrow occupied at the same time it may have been part of the chain ?
Not sure probably as it was an earlier one I think on the main route north to Carlisle via penrith.
DeleteHave we been bad that you should threaten to not post pics and posts like these?
ReplyDeleteI see I'm not the only one for whom the pictures call the Eagle of the Ninth to mind. In particular this time was the visibility initially interfering with the call for help.
I'm always a bit cautious exposing people to my personal manias, it's about 20 miles to Lancaster getting to the limits of unaided visibility (?) although in a less polluted era it would have been better.
DeleteThanks for indulging US by sharing these rambles and the history of the site. It seems that this spot, despite it's amazing vistas, is also a place of solitude (ie, no other people visible in the shots). Is it hard to access or just not "on the map" so to speak for most folks?
ReplyDeleteCan be busy at times - mainly dog walkers, but I tend to visit in the morning when it's quiet, think most people are unaware of it's existence.
ReplyDeleteHappy to indulge the old man’s hobby horse 😄
ReplyDeleteThere’s got to be a relieve the fort/convoy scenario in there.
Oh definitely! Soldier Svejk, you have your marching orders!
DeleteIt is tempting !
Delete