P. 117. Severus's Wall. it. Towers. Caftle Mr. Horley conjectur'd that it must have been the old military Way, attending the Prætentura of Stations before the Walls were built. That it was a Way, appears by the frequent Coincidence of Severus's military Way with it. This Way was fo laid, that Hadrian must have found it impracticable to carry on his Turf Wall on the north of it; he is therefore fupposed to have left it on the north, and laid new military Ways for the use of his Wall at a greater distance on the fouth. Thefe later Ways the Author fometimes mentions, tho' on other occafions he omits to speak of them where it might have been proper; which would incline one to suppose that he had not discover'd them till after the Copy was out of his hands, and that the mention of them has been inferted by his Directions at a distance. For Severus's Stone Wall, or the third Pratentura, the Works belonging to it are a paved Works be-military Way on the fouth fide of it, a leffer longing to military Way near it, and a large Ditch on the north fide. On the Wall are a fort of Towers, call'd by the Country People Caftle-fteads, or Caftles by fome modern Authors Mile Caftles or Milliary Castles, which have been regularly ranged along it, at the diftance of fix or feven Furlongs from each other, being about fixty fix Foot fquare apiece; and their North fide form'd by the Wall itfelf, which falls in with Areans. them here. them here. In thefe the Areans were ftation'd, an Order of Men inftituted to make excurfions into the Enemy's Country, and give intelligence of their Motions*. Two third parts of thefe Towers are, yet vifible, and for a long way together, efpecially about the middle of the Wall, Camb. Brit. p.839. have have their diftinct Veftiges. The original Number and Situation of them are well fhewn by Mr. Horley, in his Map of the Wall, and a Table which he gives us for the purpose. p. 119. Towers. Befide thefe, there have been fmaller Turrets, p. 129. or Watch-Towers, which are generally ruin'd; Watchfo that 'tis hard now to find three of them together. Their distance was about three hundred and eight Yards, and confequently there muft have been four between every two Caftella. They appear to have been about four Yards fquare. Centinels having been placed in each of thefe, must have been within call of one another; fo that the Communication might be kept up quite along the Wall, without having recourfe to the Fiction of fpeaking Trumpets, or Pipes laid on the Ground from one end of the Wall to the other, as Ecbard, and fome others have imagin'd. For the Courfe of the Wall, it runs generally Course of on the Ridge, having a Defcent towards the the Wall. Enemy's Country, which both ftrengthens it and mends its Profpect: it generally paffes in a right. Line, from one of the Stations per lineam valli, to another; but now and then makes a gentle Turn in croffing a Rivulet, or paffing a Height, efpecially when it comes within fight of a Station, and as it fhould feem in order to reach and take it in. The military Way ftill keeps near it, except on the Brink of Precipices, where it does not follow all the Turns of the Wall, but often keeps aloof, like the String of a Bow, to avoid any fudden Afcent or Defcent. There are no Gates or Paffes thro' the Wall, except at the Stations, or where the military Ways have erofs'd, as at Watling-street, where we dif cover a fquare Gate, of the fame Size with one of the Caftella. L13 For P. 121. For the Dimensions of the Wall, it has been Dimensions found, by two different Menfurations, upwards of the Wall. of fixty eight English Miles, Mr. Horley makes . it fixty eight, three Furlongs: its Thickness is upwards of feven Foot, and in fome places, where the Situation requir'd extraordinary Strength, eight or nine, The Breadth of the military Way is conftantly feventeen Foot, that of the Ditch eleven Foot, and its Depth nine. The distance between fome of thefe Works is always the fame; between others variable, the Walls being fometimes within a Chain of each other, at other times fifty Chains afunder; and the Space between the Wall, and military Way fometimes two Chains, fometimes fixteen. 'p. 123. For the Materials of the Walls; that of HaMaterials drian is Earth, fometimes mix'd with Stone of theWall. that of Severus Free-ftone, fometimes erected on Timber Piles. Whence the Stones were procur'd, has been much difputed; there being in fonte Places no Free-ftone near, and in other Places, where it might have been had, they feem to have used another Stone, of a very different Grit. Some Places from whence they were probably furnish'd, were the Rocks between Walwick and Carraw, alfo Helbech-Scar, on the Guelt, and Leuge-Crag. Defign of #t. P. 124. The Defign and Oeconomy of the two Walls, and their Works have been much difputed. Some are of opinion, that both of them, with all their Appurtenances and Stations on them, were the Work of the fame Time and Perfon, and that Hadrian's Vallum is only an inner Fofs to Severu's Wall; but this Mr. Horley fhews could not be the original Defign, tho' the Vale lum might be fo used by Severus. The Tefti mony of Hiftorians, as well as the Circumstances of 1 of the Work, as they now ftand, overthrow this it. on theWall. As to the Queftion by whom the Wall was p. 127. built, the Infcriptions found on it do not tell us Infcriptions the Reign under which it was erected. They are not fo full and explicit as thofe on Antoninus's Wall, tho' probably erected with the fame view: they are found on the Face of the Stonewall, of the fame fhape and fize with the other facing Stones, and were doubtlefs erected by the feveral Legions and Cohorts whofe Names are found on them, who in all probability built the feveral parts of the Wall where they are found. With this view Mr. Horley examines all the Infcriptions hitherto difcovered about the Wall, and from the whole concludes, that the Wall was built intirely by the Legio fecunda Augufta, and the Sexta Victrix He proceeds with great Accuracy to determine the fhare which each Cohort L14 had P. 135. Prefent Walls. had in the Work, which he finds amounts to four Caftella; purfues his Enquiries farther, and even difcovers the feveral Cohorts of thofe Legions, and what part of the Wall was built by each of them. This done, he proceeds with infinite pains to fettle the Limits of the two Walls, and trace the ancient Line of each of them thro' the Country, as it now appears. For the prefent State of the Walls, the ReState of the mains may be reduc'd to four Degrees of Entirenefs: If Hadrian's feem in any place nearly equal to its original State, that conftitutes the fourth or higheft Degree. In many places the Veftiges of it are but barely visible, which makes the first, or lowest Degree. Between these are,in different places, other intermediate States, which are denominated by the fecond and third Degrees For Severus's Wall, in fome places the original Courfes remain, which makes the fourth Degree; in others, only the original Stones remain, tho' not in their regular Courses, which is the third: where the Rubbish is high, and diftinct, tho' cover'd with Earth, and grown over with Grafs, it makes the Second Degree; and where there are the smallest visible remaining Veftiges of the Wall, the first Degree. Under thefe Conditions Mr. Horley proceeds to furvey the whole Length of the two Walls, beginning from the Manfion call'd Coufins'sHoufe, formerly Segedunum, and paffing thro' Newcastle, &c. to Boulness. This Account of the prefent State of the Wall may be of use to the Curious hereafter, in afcertaining its Course, when the prefent Appearances of it may be entirely deftroy'd; and upon this account a little unavoidable Tedioufnefs in minutely fettling this matter, must be excus❜d. The |