Gilsland

A short walkaround

A short walk aroundGilsland

In 2004, Gilsland Primary Schoolchildren and

teachers worked with a local historian and one

of the Education Advisors for Hadrian’s Wall

Tourism Partnership on a geography project to

look closely at the village of Gilsland. This leaflet

came out of that project. It was co-funded by

Northumberland National Park and Hadrian’s

Wall Tourism Partnership.

We hope you have enjoyed this walk around

Gilsland. There are many other lovely walks in

the area - for more information ask at Gilsland

Post Office.

Historical text: Juan GuerreroIllustrations: Children of Gilsland Primary School

Design: Marcus Byron

About the trailThis easy short walk around the village ofGilsland is 1 mile in length and is suitable foryoung children accompanied by an adult. Thereare five STOPPING POINTS with things to seealong the way. Open up the leaflet for the mapand walk directions.

The story of GilslandGilsland was a small farming settlement on thewest side of the Poltross Burn for manycenturies, but it grew quickly when theNewcastle to Carlisle Railway opened in 1838.In those Victorian days, Gilsland became adestination resort with thousands of visitorsfrom Carlisle and Newcastle arriving to samplethe health-giving, sulphur-rich waters ofGilsland Spa. Many large houses were built asguesthouses to accommodate this new breedof traveller, The Tourist, in search of healthyair and spa waters. Many came to enjoy thesurrounding countryside and much of the landto the north has since been designated as aNational Park.

Today, many people still visit Gilsland, mostcome to see Hadrian’s Wall. They come fromall over the world to see this importanthistoric monument, designated a WorldHeritage Site in 1987.

The railway, Spa and Hadrian’s Wall have eachinfluenced the development of this village. Seehow many names of buildings you can collectthat are linked to each of them!

Gilsland SchoolThe school was built very close to Hadrian’sWall. The Wall was built by Roman legionariesin AD122 (nearly 2,000 years ago). They builtthe Wall which was 73 miles long betweenWallsend and Bowness on Solway in a matterof 4-10 years. They used a range of chisels,blocks and stone splitting gear and cuttingtools and wooden frames with pulley systemsand wooden scaffolding using stone that wasquarried as locally as possible to keeptransport costs down.

The house opposite the School (Roman WallVilla) is built on top of Hadrian’s Wall. Today,we have strict planning regulations aboutbuilding on or near an ancient monument. Whenthis house was built, there was less publicinterest in Roman remains. Roman stones madeuseful foundations and walls! As you go aroundthis trail see if you can spot any re-usedstones from Hadrian’s Wall.

Poltross Burn MilecastleThese are the remains of a typical RomanMilecastle. Built into the back of Hadrian’sWall, at every Roman mile, milecastles werethe place where people could cross understrict control from one side to the other. TheRomans may have charged travellers some kindof tax or toll. This one at Poltross Burn is saidto be the best preserved of all the

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milecastles. Try and find the oven wheresoldiers would have cooked their food and thesteps which may have taken them to a lookoutpoint on the top of the Wall.

Railway StationWhen transport tastes changed and touristsstarted arriving by car and coach, rather thanusing the train, Gilsland Station was sold offto a private buyer (in 1967). It is now a privatehouse with very unusual tall chimneys. Thisstyle of architecture is typical of the NorthEastern Railway, the company that built therailway and all its properties during the 1830s.You can imagine how busy this little villagestation must have been during the heyday ofthe Spa during the Victorian period.

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STOPPING POINT information Village HallGilsland Village Hall was originally built as areading room. Note the red brick used for thisbuilding. It has also been used to build StanleyCrescent (the terraced houses behind thehall), which was used as a boarding houseduring the Second World War. Looking overthe road and beyond the bus shelter, we cansee Gilsland Spa Hotel. It was originally builtin 1740, but was later destroyed by fire in1859. During the Victorian period it wasrebuilt as a fashionable spa resort. Today,many people still visit the Spa and enjoy thebeautiful woodland walks in the Irthing Gorge.Some are even brave enough to sample the Spawater!

Mumps HallIt is said that the first house in Hall Terrace(furthest to the left) was once a hostelrywhere travellers stayed overnight. A wickedlandlady called Margaret Teasdale is reputedto have owned the house during the 17thcentury. The well-known writer, Sir WalterScott immortalised this lady in his novel ‘GuyMannering’. He used Margaret Teasdale tocreate the character ‘Tib Mumps’. MargaretTeasdale was associated with the ‘BorderReivers’ (local robbers and looters). Thishostelry in Gilsland was thelast place for refreshmentbefore travelling towards thedangerous Bewcastle Waste,which was very unsafe tocross due to the risk of beingrobbed.

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Gilsland

A short walkaround

Pto A

69 & Car

lisle

to Greenhead

& A69

to Gilsland Spa & Birdoswald

Mumps Hall

Gilsland car park

Poltross BurnMilecastle

Station Hotel

Play park

River Irving

Hadrian’s Wall

On the other side of the railway track, turnleft to follow the path to the remains of thePoltross Burn Milecastle, part of the Hadrian’sWall World Heritage Site. This is STOPPINGPOINT .

The path goes across a small stream and bearsleft towards another kissing gate that leadsonto the railway embankment. The pathcontinues up to cross the railway. Take carewhile crossing the tracks!

From STOPPING POINT 1, walk towards Gilslandcar park from the school gate and turn leftthrough the kissing gate to follow the pathbetween the school and the car park.

This path is part of the Hadrian’s Wall NationalTrail, which opened in 2003. It runs all the wayfrom Wallsend to Bowness-On-Solway.

This is the Newcastle to Carlisle Line, Britain’sfirst cross-country railway. It was officiallyopened in June 1838.

From STOPPING POINT 2 at the Milecastle followthe Hadrian’s Wall Trail down the steps, overthe bridge across Poltross Burn, then up thesteps on the other side.

From STOPPING POINT 3, go back to the subway.This time, turn right through the subway,following the path under the railway and downto the village playground. Keep bearing right to

After a while, the path will take us up to asubway leading under the railway. At thispoint, follow the path straight ahead ratherthan going through the subway. This brings usout at the Station Hotel. This is STOPPINGPOINT .

By crossing the burn you have crossed thecounty boundary from Cumbria into Northumberland.

follow the lane uphill to the road. Turn left tostop outside the village hall. This is STOPPINGPOINT 4.

From STOPPING POINT 5, continue on thefootpath along the road, with the MethodistChurch on the right. Further uphill to the leftafter a modern bungalow, is the formervicarage, now called ‘Romanway’. Hadrian’s Wallcan be seen running straight through thegarden of this house. We now arrive back atGilsland School, where our village trail ends.

At the road junction, turn left and walk alongthe pavement to the next turning for the pubcar park. Look across the main road to a rowof terraced houses, this is Hall Terrace andyou’re at STOPPING POINT .

From STOPPING POINT 4, follow the roaddownhill, past the Post Office and village storeto the Bridge Inn.

You have now crossed back into Cumbria!

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The trail starts at the gates of GilslandSchool. This is STOPPING POINT .1