11 - Tyne Gap and Hadrian’s Wall : Description

Physical and functional links to other National Character Areas

Adjoining no fewer than nine other National Character Areas (NCAs), this narrow, distinctive corridor centred on the River Tyne separates the upland landscapes of the North Pennines NCA from the Border Moors and Forests and Northumberland Sandstone Hills NCAs. Between these uplands which lie in the south and north of the NCA respectively, long and uninterrupted views of open moorland impart a sense of space and isolation. Westwards there are views of the pastoral landscapes of the Solway Basin and Eden Valley NCAs and in the east a more lowland and urban character prevails with views of Mid Northumberland NCA and the conurbation of Newcastle in the Tyne and Wear Lowlands NCA.

The River Tyne and its tributaries flow west to east down the valley and are an important source of drinking water for settlements in the NCA and larger conurbations in the Tyne and Wear Lowlands NCA. Water levels are maintained by a water transfer system which captures and diverts water from the adjoining uplands of the North Pennines and Border Moors and Forests NCAs. Downstream flooding and diffuse pollution can occur in the NCA during periods of heavy rainfall when the extensive moorland watersheds capture high volumes of water that rapidly flows through saturated, steep valleys in the uplands gathering a sediment load as it flows. In the west of the NCA, the River Irthing flows from east to west, to join the River Eden which flows into the Solway estuary. Downstream flooding also occurs with the River Irthing affecting the lowlands of the Solway Basin NCA.

To the north-west of the River Tyne, flood plains give rise to steep valley sides and the classic cuesta landscape associated with Hadrian’s Wall country. The higher elevations of the Whin Sill – a distinctive band of igneous rock with dramatic north-facing escarpments – lent themselves to the construction of a major defensive fortification known as Hadrian’s Wall. The wall crossed northern England and marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire in 125 ad. The surviving remains of Hadrian’s Wall and associated structures were designated a World Heritage Site in 1987 extending from Newcastle to Bowness-on-Solway. The central section falls within the Northumberland National Park in this NCA, while the western end lies within the Solway Coast Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The Hadrian’s Wall Path National Trail follows the wall, providing easy access to heritage and designated landscapes.

Important east-west routes have followed the Tyne valley from earliest times. Today the A69 trunk road and a mainline railway run across the Pennines linking Tyne and Wear and Northumberland with Cumbria, and the valley provides a strategic Pennine crossing point for the National Grid’s electricity transmission network.

The Tyne Gap and Hadrian's Wall today

Centred on the valley of the River Tyne, this is a mosaic of arable and pasture land, conifer plantations and well-wooded valley sides. At higher elevations there are semi-improved pastoral landscapes with open moorland associated with the Whin Sill outcrops.

The South Tyne at Haltwhistle flows from the North Pennine uplands, turning east to flow down the Tyne Gap where it is joined by small tributaries from the south, becoming the Tyne, which flows through Newcastle to the North Sea. The North Tyne flows south-east down from Kielder Forest to join the South Tyne near Hexham. The watershed near Haltwhistle separates the Tyne catchment from the River Irthing, which flows south into the NCA before flowing west to join the River Eden.

The Tyne valley has varied character. In the north-western area between the North Pennines and Border Moors and Forests NCAs, large-scale views impart a sense of remoteness. The north-facing dramatic Whin Sill escarpments define the valley in association with unimproved open moorland and grassland. Cattle and sheep graze large areas of rough pasture, divided by stone walls and fences. Bogs have formed in hollows, and small, open waterbodies known as ‘loughs’ have high biodiversity value. Isolated stone farmsteads are sheltered by clumps of conifers, and Hadrian’s Wall follows the crest of the imposing ridge of the Whin Sill. The consolidated remains of the wall are widely visible between Birdoswald and Housesteads forts, while smaller sections remain elsewhere. Associated ditches including the Vallum are more prominent within the NCA, and the central section of the World Heritage Site falls within the Northumberland National Park. Further south, occasional coniferous shelterbelts contrast with undulating land and improved pasture on south-facing slopes.

In the far west, the River Irthing flows west through a small, contained valley with pastures in the flood plain, arable crops on gentle slopes and broadleaved woodland on small, steep-sided slopes. At the watershed, at Haltwhistle, the River South Tyne turns eastwards along the valley where flat, managed arable fields of the flood plain contrast with a mosaic of semi-improved pasture and deciduous, mixed and coniferous woodland on slopes. In this confined valley, the river flows quickly over rocks between steep-wooded bluffs. Elsewhere, views are limited by horizons that are formed by the upper valley sides.

East of Bardon Mill, there is undulating farmed land on the broad flanks of the Tyne Gap, where fields are generally large and bounded by hedges. There are prominent blocks of coniferous or mixed woodland. The dominance of the A69 road and the Carlisle-to-Newcastle railway along the river corridor are emphasised by rows of trees, hedgerows and overhead power lines. Terraces of houses and industrial buildings have also developed along the route.

The rivers North and South Tyne join at Waters Meet near High Warden, where the valley broadens out downstream forming a well-wooded landscape with semi-improved pasture on steeper slopes and arable fields on the valley bottom. Next to the river are managed country estates – Chesters, Haughton Castle, Nunwick Hall, Blenkinsopp Castle and Chipchase Castle – set within parklands of mature trees.

Around Hexham the valley is larger, with arable fields, intensively grazed pasture in the flood plain, and deciduous woodland and semi-improved pasture on low valley sides. Blocks of commercial conifer plantations to the south-east provide a backcloth to the town. The local economy is boosted by a chipboard manufacturing plant, which is highly visible with its smoking chimney and has considerable influence on the perception of the setting of the town and surrounding landscape. Hexham is also a commuter town for the city of Newcastle.

To the east of Corbridge the valley opens up, with large, arable fields in the flood plain subdivided by thin hedgerows and few hedgerow trees. A small number of active and disused quarries mainly for sand and gravel extraction occur, with some creating local areas devoid of distinctive natural features. The settlements of Prudhoe, Wylam and Heddon are sometimes dwarfed by housing estates and there are occasional long views towards the conurbation of Newcastle.

Several sites, mainly in the northern area, are designated for rare habitats, all of which contribute to tranquillity and wildness. The parallel ridges of the Whin Sill contain bent grasses on the slopes, with conifer shelterbelts and birch. Gorse and rushes are found in poorly drained areas, and acid grassland and heather cover outcrops of sandstone; localised patches of calcareous grassland are associated with the limestone slopes. The open moorlands are dominated by purple moor-grass, pockets of heather, cotton grass and some peatlands and give rise to the extensive views from higher elevations. A group of natural waterbodies north of Hadrian’s Wall, known as the Roman Wall Loughs, are designated as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), recognised for their diverse aquatic flora of submerged and emergent vegetation, including pondweeds, stoneworts, shoreweed and bladderworts. Surrounding the loughs is unimproved grassland, with areas of heather and mire vegetation. Muckle Moss and Greenlee Lough National Nature Reserves offer recreation and educational opportunities. Near the South Tyne, rare riverine Calaminarian grasslands are of national interest and support wetland bird species. Freshwater mussels are found in the Tyne tributaries, and all the rivers provide habitat for mammals and aquatic life.

This is a landscape with limited industrial infrastructure, resulting in the cross- Pennine National Grid power line and chipboard manufacturing plant at Hexham being visually prominent.

Recreation opportunities include walking, cycling, horse riding, canoeing, angling, birdwatching and star gazing. Angling is a significant economic generator for the region, attracting visiting anglers from across the country, and the Tyne supports important fish populations, being one of the bestknown rivers in England for salmon, sea trout and brown trout. The skies above Kielder Water and Forest Park and Northumberland National Park are officially recognised as the darkest in England. These areas have been designated by the International Dark-Sky Association as the largest Dark Sky Park in Europe.

Honeypot sites along Hadrian’s Wall such as the Roman forts of Housesteads and Birdoswald are easily accessed by the Hadrian’s Wall Path and the Pennine Way National Trails and by the Hadrian’s Cycleway and the Pennine Cycleway National Cycle Routes. There are also opportunities to promote healthy walking schemes throughout the NCA and in nearby urban areas such as the Tyne and Wear Lowlands NCA.

Heritage contributes strongly to sense of place, with Hadrian’s Wall notably inspiring children’s literature. Renowned author Rudyard Kipling wrote a series of short stories set in different periods of English history called Puck of Pook’s Hill; Hadrian’s Wall features in the story of Parnesius, a Roman legionary who defended the wall against the Picts. The Eagle of the Ninth by Rosemary Sutcliff is set in Roman Britain in the 2nd century ad, after the building of Hadrian’s Wall. Celebrated Victorian artist John Martin also painted many of the iconic views associated with Hadrian’s Wall.

The landscape through time

The area is underlain by sedimentary rocks of Carboniferous age, which form a succession of limestones, sandstones and shales, deposited in alternating shallow marine to estuarine and deltaic environments. This has given rise to a classic cuesta landscape, with resistant rocks forming striking escarpments that were further accentuated by parallel glacial flow from west to east. The glaciers occurred between 2 million and 12,000 years ago and included the formation of glacial lakes known as loughs, which were scoured out in the softer rocks. They still exist today and provide important freshwater habitats.

North of the Tyne, the rocks dip southwards, and striking north-facing escarpments are formed by the outcrop of the hard Whin Sill, an igneous dolerite, intruded parallel to the Carboniferous sedimentary rocks. The geological term ‘sill’ was first used in reference to the Whin Sill. ‘Whin’ is a quarryman’s term for a hard black rock, while ‘sill’ is the term for any horizontal layer of rock. Hadrian’s Wall exploits its natural defences by following Whin Sill’s crest, although the wall itself was built from the more easily worked Carboniferous sandstones. The Whin Sill is also designated as a geological SSSI known as the Roman Wall Escarpments SSSI and supports unusual species-rich Whin Sill grasslands. Plants include wild chives, which are rare in Northumberland, and some nationally important waxcap communities.

The more easily eroded shales of the Millstone Grit Series have also influenced the stepped topography of the valley sides, with harder deposits to the north, together with Whin Sill outcrops, giving rise to a moorland landscape. Deposition of other glacial debris (mainly sand and gravel) occurred during the final melting stages, producing terrace deposits along the Tyne Gap. In postglacial times, wide alluvial flats known as haughs developed in places alongside the River Tyne. Deposition diverted the River South Tyne at Haltwhistle, where it turned east to flow down the Tyne Gap.

On the North Pennine Orefield, towards the end of the Carboniferous Period (about 290 million years ago), hot mineral-rich waters, heated by the Weardale Granite, cooled as they moved through faults and joints in the Carboniferous rocks. They precipitated out a range of minerals, notably barium such as baryte and witherite, which resulted in lead mining at locations such as the former Settlingstones and Fallowfield mines.

Fieldwork reveals that Mesolithic and Neolithic communities were active, and bronze-age stone circles and burial cairns survive in a wide linear band along the Tyne Gap, together with an iron-age hill fort at Warden, which overlooks the junction of the North and South Tyne valleys. Spectacular remains include Roman forts, camps, roads and Hadrian’s Wall itself, which together form one of the world’s best-known archaeological landscapes and was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1987. The Tyne valley contains important east-west routes originating from earliest times, and the Roman roads are still followed today.

Much of Hadrian’s Wall has disappeared, as the distinctive rectangular stone blocks were used to build many of the farmsteads and properties nearby; in the 18th century the stone blocks were also used for road building, particularly during the Jacobite insurrection such as the one that lies beneath the B6318) today.

As a border area, the NCA suffered intermittent conflict from the 14th to the 16th centuries, and other fortified structures, including bastles and pele towers, were built to withstand border raids. The castles at Blenkinsopp, Langley Featherstone (South Tyne) and Bellister (south of Haltwhistle) are examples of medieval strongholds now used as domestic properties. Pele towers at Willimoteswick, Corbridge, Halton and Staward are examples of fortified dwellings. Other notable castles include those at Prudhoe, Thirlwall, Aydon, Dilston and Bywell.

In the more sheltered, fertile parts of the Tyne Gap, south of the wall, the medieval landscape was one of small, nucleated settlements, surrounded by open fields of arable and pasture, beyond which was the extensive ‘waste’ of the wider countryside.

The ‘great rebuilding’ followed the end of cross-border warfare in the early 17th century. Agricultural land was improved and large country houses, often incorporating medieval fortified structures, were built and set in designed parklands. The ‘corn road’ was constructed from Hexham to Alnmouth in the mid 18th century to transport and export grain. In the 19th century the transport network was further developed by the construction of the first coast-to-coast passenger railway in 1838, linking Newcastle to Carlisle. The additional branch lines from Hexham to Allendale and Hexham to Kielder have subsequently closed, leaving historical reminders such as station houses, embankments and railway viaducts in the landscape.

Limestone beds around Thornbrough were mined for lead; indeed, lime kilns that once served the limestone quarries survive in the landscape. Limestone was a valuable material that was burnt in the kilns, with the residue used to improve acid soils and as lime wash for buildings. Near Prudhoe are the chalk waste heaps from an ICI chemical factory that operated until the 1960s, manufacturing ammonia. This area has now formed Northumberland’s only chalk grassland habitat and is part of the Tyne Riverside Country Park.

A number of settlements such as Haltwhistle, Corbridge and Riding Mill developed as strategic locations in the valley and bridging points over the Tyne. Corbridge has been an important bridgehead since pre-Roman times and controlled routes across the Tyne which connected with the upland drove roads linking Scotland to northern England. The main town, Hexham, developed under its 7th-century Augustinian abbey, and became an important market town trading in livestock and grain. Today, its core of medieval buildings remains, along with small streets with later Regency and Georgian buildings. Notable buildings include Moot Hall, the Shambles market and the Old Gaol – England’s first gaol. The building of Hexham Station in 1835 stimulated the town’s development and it is now largely a residential area for commuters to the Newcastle conurbation.

Larger settlements along the Tyne are characterised by buildings of soft, warm sandstone within the village centres. Prudhoe, Haydon Bridge, Bardon Mill and Haltwhistle expanded due to coal mining and quarrying, boosted by the arrival of the railway, and now provide retail and commercial services for the local population. Apart from the bridge at Haydon Bridge and the older sandstone buildings forming the original centres, these settlements have a range of building styles and materials and have expanded in the 20th century with areas of housing and light industry.

Away from the valley bottom, settlements are more dispersed and include Ovington, Bywell, Warden, Humshaugh, Barrasford, Wark, Fourstones and Thorngrafton. They have a core of vernacular buildings constructed from Millstone Grit, often with a church, a pub and a substantial manor house or farm. On the flanks of the valleys, hamlets or isolated farmsteads are located at regular intervals, but higher slopes are unpopulated.

Upgrading of the A69 in the past resulted in extensive Whin Sill quarrying at Walltown and Cawfields for road stone. This included the loss of sections of Hadrian’s Wall and the creation of distinct quarry faces within the landscape.