On our recent road trip through Northumberland and Southern Scotland, we decided to take the road which runs from Newcastle on England’s East coast to Carlisle near England’s West coast. The views on the way were stunning, the rolling hills of the countryside, the grey coloured stone built houses we passed on the way were a delight and my youngest pointing (and counting) out the sheep she saw from the car window. We did stop at a few places on the way. This is of course Hadrian Wall territory, the famous stoned wall which the Romans built to keep the people north of the wall (in modern-day Scotland) out and causing trouble to which the Roman Emperor at the time, Hadrian was worried about. He didn’t want to see the Roman Empire crumble, as there were problems here but also in Egypt and Libya which the Romans had control over.
Corbridge, a small little village east of Hexham on the River Tyne is the home of the Northernmost Roman town in Great Britain. There were smaller settlements north of the Hadrian Wall and south of the Antonnie Wall (which is another Roman Wall built between Edinburgh and Glasgow) but in Corbridge, this was a town. We never heard of this place before until the night before our trip as we were in a hotel in Sunderland and I was planning on places to visit along the road before we headed to Western Scotland to our base for our Scottish part of the road trip.
It stunned us. There is not many surviving Roman High Streets on this island but here, we could walk along the high street known as Stanegate, in the town of Coria. Coria was the Roman name for this town and 1,900 years ago, this town was the most northerly in the Roman Empire. The town lasted for hundreds of years, had many grand buildings and a lot of houses. There were also many workshops full of craftspeople and traders as well as their families living with them. Coria survived until the end of Roman Britain which ended around 410AD. After the Romans buggered off from England, the town fell into decline and then abandoned.
Our visit (after sorting out our entrance tickets as we are members of English Heritage) started with a walk around the museum, seeing lots of artifacts and artwork which was discovered on the site). The amount of items which were found here amazed me. I have been to other Roman sites in the south of the island but never seen as many items on display compared to Coria.
Outside, the first two ruins we saw were the granaries. These buildings were very important during the Roman times (especially as it's colder up north!) as they stored grains and supplied the army as well as the townspeople with food. The grain was stored on a raised paved floor so that air would flow freely and keep the contents dry. Whilst here, I was surprised that visitors could actually walk around the ruins of the site. Our girls enjoyed walking up and down the ruins playing hide and seek but I saw other adults walk on top of the ruins to have a look themselves. I honestly thought we needed to preserve the ruins. I didn’t see any signs either. I thought this was very strange. I love getting up close with history but there are limitations, right?
Around the site, we saw the ruins of a drinking fountain and lots of drainage and water channels. I also spotted that the houses stood below the surface level of the road. This meant there were quite a few steps to go up and down to each building. I later learnt from the guide book I brought from the shop that the reason the buildings were below street level is that every time the road needed to be rebuilt or in this case, refurbished, the Romans just built on top of the previous road surface. Not sure if they were lazy back then or just had brains, by which I mean, they were saving time before they could work on their next project in the town.
The rest of the site were ruins of the houses, courtyards and military buildings. A lot of grass has covered the site also. I enjoyed the views looking south and at the opposing hills on the other side of the valley. Hadrians Wall itself isn’t here in Coria, but around 2 miles (3.2km) north of here. We really (and I am hoping the children have) learnt a lot here. It's one of those places where you want school children to come here on a trip whilst learning about Roman history. This gives people a good insight into Roman life and I highly recommend it (as well as exploring Hadrian’s Wall and other sites along the way).
Other tips: there are toilets here. There isn’t a cafe here but a vending machine for snacks and soft drinks (however the town of Corbridge is a two minute drive away and there are facilities there for eating and drinking). However English Heritage does allow people to bring food onto the site as there is a picnic area. And of course, there are audio guides to listen to and a shop to buy souvenirs. For more information about Corbridge Roman Town which is managed by English Heritage, click here.
Essential information on Corbridge Roman Town
How to get to Corbridge Roman Town: By car, take the A69 road which goes between Carlisle (M6) and Newcastle (A1). Take the turn off which is called Stagshaw Road (A68 turnoff) and has a brown tourist sign saying ‘Hadrian’s Wall’. Follow signs into Corbridge from that junction's roundabout which by now are brown tourist signs saying ‘Corbridge Roman Site’. It’s a few minutes drive west of the town of Corbridge.Anyone who has a sat-nav, the postcode is NE45 5NT.
The nearest train station is Corbridge on the NEwcastle to Carlisle via Hexham line and is located 1.5 miles (2km) away from the site. It is about a twenty-five minute walk.
Flying into the area before arriving in a car or train? The nearest airport is Newcastle, however other airports nearby are Leeds/Bradford, Teesside and there is a regional airport at Carlisle. However, if arriving into a London airport, then take the train from Kings Cross to Newcastle Central and change for trains there. The first place I would go to find airline tickets to the city is using (I would recommend) Skyscanner to find flights as that is my first point of call. Then if necessary use the airlines directly to find a good deal. I sometimes use Momondo as well to compare prices before booking.
Car Rentals - as I do a lot of road trips around the world, I use Rentalcars.com which is very reliable for booking car hire in advance. I also use Turo (the airbnb of car rentals) and never had a problem with them. The cars are insured, owners vetted and never had an issue.
Accommodation: There are a lot of accommodation options and a lot of websites which can do some great deals. My first point of call is always Booking.com and can offer a range of hostels, hotels, campsites, apartments, guesthouses and bed and breakfasts.. After that I always have a look through AirBnb and Vrbo for great deals on apartments and other lodgings especially when traveling as a family.
Currency: England uses the British Pound Sterling currency. Currency can be exchanged at the airports and train stations in London (for a huge fee) so I would recommend either going to a currency exchange place downtown, to a bank (if they have good rates) or if you got a good bank account with fantastic exchange rates, then use an ATM machine (may incur a small fee but I always do this option as I got good bank accounts). A great website I use to compare currency exchange rates is XE, which gives people up to date information.
Travel insurance: This is essential to anywhere you go in the world. I always carry travel insurance. Having travel insurance will cover you from theft, illness and those annoying cancellations which can happen on the road. Safety Wing offers coverage for a lot of adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and so forth.
Need a visa for the United Kingdom? Always check if you need a visa when coming to the United Kingdom, especially for those who come from outside Europe.
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