158 YEAVERING BELL AND HAREHOPE FORT 



forward where this road enters. The Western or main gate 

 of the fort has a 6ne avenue-looking entrance. This feeling 

 of front-door approach was well voiced, when it came in view, 

 by one of the members exclaiming, "This way for 

 the carriage people!" But its apparent openness proves its 

 very strength, as the approach lies in the face of three lines 

 of wall, the opening through each being covered by the wall 

 behind. This method of bringing approaches up to forts, so 

 as to expose the party approaching in the open, is not in- 

 frequent in the case of early forts. It is sometimes done in 

 a way that might be termed "a trap." The writer knows 

 of several instances where, by going straight forward to the 

 end of the road, one is brought right under the face of the 

 wall where there is no entrance into the fort, the real entrance 

 being got by passing out of the direct roadway some distance 

 back by a side track, which a stranger would be sure to 

 miss, especially when he had the fort in full view before him. 

 The fine line of hollow way coming up from Akeld has already 

 been remarked on. We stated that a branch was thrown out 

 towards Harehope Fort. After diverging a short distance, 

 this branch forks again, the direct line running out to the 

 open in front of the wall, the other curving away for a while, 

 but afterwards turning into the main entrance. In the interior 

 of the fort there are remains of several circular buildings, 

 and opposite each of the entrances inside there have been 

 guard-towers. 



The great stone fort on Homildon Hill differs from the 

 others in this group. It has an outer wall of stone girdling 

 the summit of the hill, one side of which rests on the brink 

 of the ravine known as Homilheugh. The inner wall rests 

 one of its ends on the outer wall at the Eastern side, and 

 from this runs with a spiral line up to the summit of the 

 hill, making rather more than one complete turn round. 

 The line of main entrance to the centre of the fort was 

 round this spiral curve, all the way under command of the 

 wall and its defenders. The method of building followed 

 in the stone enclosures at Yeavering and Homildon is 

 that most frequent in British forts. A line of broad 

 stones is sunk into the ground surface, forming a sort of 

 curb. This forms the line of the face of the wall. There 



