Wall Township (Haltwhistle Parish), 1848

WALL-TOWN, a township, in the parish and union of Haltwhistle, W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 3 miles (N.W. by W.) from Haltwhistle; containing 85 inhabitants. This was one of the twelve villes of South Tindale which, in 1315, prayed the king for remedy against William de Soules, to whom Robert de Brus, King of Scotland, had given the manor of Wark, in Tindale, in which these townships were situated. In Henry VIII.'s time Wall-Town was the property of the Ridleys, who continued here till the reign of Charles I., if not later; and the place has been subsequently owned by the families of Marshall, Bacon, and Wastell. The Roman wall passed through the township, in which were the stations Vindolana, now termed Little Chesters, and Aesica, called Great Chesters, the ramparts of which, particularly of the latter, where are also considerable traces of a town, are in better preservation than those of any other station on the wall. Roman baths, altars, tombstones, inscriptions, curious pieces of sculpture, and numerous other relics of antiquity, have been found in both; and in a neighbouring hill called Chapel-Steads, many urns have been discovered. Near the military road connecting the two stations are some tumuli, termed the Four Lawes; and on an adjoining hill a rude monument of three large stones, vulgarly called the Mare and Foals. The tower of Wall-Town, which was a castellated building, is described, in 1542, as the inheritance of John Ridley, and in good repair; at present only the site is visible, the ruins having been used in the construction of a modern farmhouse.