138 Hadrians Wall. [Sess. 



Romans crossed the river some hundred yards farther down 

 than the present bridge. 



The remains of this bridge and of the station of Cilurnum 

 form the attractions of the little village of Chollerford. Since 

 the Eomans were here the river has changed its course. In 

 its present course it flows over the remains of the western 

 abutment of the Eoman bridge, which can still be seen when 

 the river is low, and which, of course, at one time stood up 

 upon the bank. Upon the top of the eastern abutment, which 

 has been recently disinterred from a deposit of sand brought 

 down by the river, there grew a large plantation. The founda- 

 tions of two of the water piers can still be seen in the river, the 

 third being buried in the sand under the east bank. Looking 

 at the remains of this east abutment as it exists to-day, you 

 see how massive it is — great stones in beautifully laid courses, 

 accurately squared and jointed and dovetailed into each other. 

 The abutment stands at the original height, the footway of the 

 bridge stretching from here across to the piers. Here are 

 many interesting things to observe. You can see where the 

 wall joins the masonry of the bridge, and attached to it a 

 square structure of the same kind of stones. It is of Eoman 

 work, but obviously of later and inferior workmanship. Its 

 exact purpose is a matter of conjecture. It was considered to 

 be a fort for the protection of the bridge, but that is absurd 

 on the face of it, as the bridge would undoubtedly be heavily 

 defended. Later speculation tends to put it down as a Eoman 

 water-mill, as a covered way resembling a mill-lade has been 

 found coming from up the river, passing underneath the 

 structure and out towards the river again on the lower side. 

 At any rate its mere position points to a time when the 

 entrance to the bridge was not here, for it forms an obstruc- 

 tion to the direct passage. Doubtless there were many changes 

 in the river and in the arrangements of the bridge or bridges 

 which spanned it during the four hundred years of the Eoman 

 occupation. In the centre of the abutment is a proof of this. 

 The abutment has been built round a stone structure which 

 was evidently a water pier of an older bridge. The details of 

 its construction show that it was of a different period from the 

 work around it. Many massive stones lie about in confusion, 

 which had been part of the defences of the bridge, though 



