Please  see the official  English Heritage site for more information on Birdoswald, Housesteads and the many important Roman sites close to Gilsland.

Birdoswald stands high above a the River Irthing near Gilsland, in one of the most picturesque settings on Hadrian’s Wall. A Roman fort, turret and milecastle can all be seen on this excellent stretch of the Wall.

With probably the best preserved defences of any Wall fort, this was an important base for some 1,000 Roman soldiers, succeeding an earlier fort of turf and timber. The section of Wall to the east, also of stone replacing turf, is the longest continuous stretch visible today.

Archaeological discoveries over the past 150 years have revealed a great deal about Roman military life. Three of the four main gateways of the fort have been unearthed, as have the outside walls, two granary buildings, workshops and the unique drill hall.

People continued to live at Birdoswald after the Roman withdrawal. In the 5th century a large timber hall was built over the collapsed Roman granaries, perhaps for a local British chieftain. Later, a medieval tower house was raised here, replaced in the 16th century by a fortified ‘bastle’ farmhouse designed to protect its inhabitants from the notorious ‘Border Reivers’. Later still in more peaceful times, a farmhouse stood there

Bed & Breakfast Accommodation on Hadrian’s Wall.

AA & VB

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