IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Heddon-on-the-Wall, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, NE15 0DR

See description and similar view here Image

The 1856 plan of Heddon on the Wall shows that this and several other properties in the village were owned by Nathaniel and John Clayton http://communities.northumberland.gov.uk/009228.htm Many parts of the village were owned by the Clayton family, including East Town Farm, Bays Leap and Heddon Mill. They were sold in 1918. Could this be the same John Clayton (1792-1890), son of Nathaniel, successive Town Clerks of Newcastle, who was responsible for Grainger Town in Newcastle, and from the family seat at Chesters, as an antiquarian responsible for saving many of the sites of Hadrian's Wall? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Clayton_%28town_clerk%29 http://www.culture24.org.uk/history+%26+heritage/time/georgian+and+victorian/art56960 In the village, a portion of East Town Farm was given over to the Ministry of Works to protect the Roman Wall Image, donated by its then owner, and benefactor to the village, Sir James Knott.

There is a view from Towne Gate here Image

Small foundry and metal working business sadly recently closed due to the continuing recession Image The end of an era lasting 120 years, and four generations of the family. The premises has been sold for demolition and development. The story is told here http://heddonhistory.weebly.com/roman-wall-forge-2011.html http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/11/09/heddon-on-the-wall-blacksmiths-forced-to-close-after-over-120-years-61634-29743852/

Recently rebuilt house on the site of a ruin. The house name refers to the stone-built water tank that stood on this hilltop site (close to the site of the 12th Milecastle of Hadrian's Wall) which was the village water supply from the mid C19th, fed from springs rising near East Heddon Image It went out of use when a metal tank on legs was provided nearby, and now itself demolished and replaced by mains water. http://heddonhistory.weebly.com/water-supplies.html

The old road runs in the foreground from left to right. This was the line of Wade's Military Road (constructed in the 1750s, mainly on the foundations of Hadrian's Wall) and later the course of the A69 from Newcastle to Carlisle. The road closed when the bypass was built. The line of the Wall here lies just south of the road (which perhaps had already been flattened by the village). We are close to the suspected location of Milecastle 12, although it has never been found. Recent archaeology has shown it wasn't in its measured position slightly further east. The road was widened in 1926. At the same time or perhaps earlier it was cut deep into sandstone bedrock (visible below the wall) to remove an unnecessary hill. As the milecastle wasn't revealed on the line of the Wall further east Image there is a high possibility that it was located somewhere on the hill in the back garden above the wall which marks the back garden of Tank House. There were old buildings here above the road, and it might of course have been completely destroyed.

The building on Town Gate is shown here Image

Small business in the village: 'Blacksmiths and Engineers, Steel Fabrications, Site Welding'. The motto on their sign reads 'The loving eye and patient hand, shall work with joy and bless this land' Image This motto was inscribed above the ground floor windows of the Keswick School of Industrial Arts Image and its loss caused local controversy http://www.cwherald.com/archive/archive/writing-on-the-wall-to-chart-town&%238217%3Bs-industrial-arts-heritage-20001118166519.htm Although, I am currently unable to find a photo on this site, there is one here http://www.victorianweb.org/art/design/metalwork/47.html and here http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/Details/default.aspx?pid=2&id=71878and An article describing the final closure and sale of the Roman Wall Forge in 2011 can be found here http://heddonhistory.weebly.com/roman-wall-forge-2011.html

There is another photo here Image