Roman quarry feature

[Joe Duxbury]

Have any of you got 'Hadrian's Wall: a History and Guide', by Guy de la Bedoyere? In another book of his, de la Bedoyere says that on pages 62-63, and on plate 12, there is reference to wedge holes in a Roman quarry used to provide stone for Hadrian's Wall. I'm curious to know how these holes compare with ones from the 19th century.

 

[Lankyman]

I have the Wall guide (2000 version). I can't see anything relevant on the pages or plate you mention. I have seen wedge holes in Vindolanda Quarry on Barcombe Hill above that fort (which pre-dates the Wall by several decades and which was also manned throughout and beyond the Wall period). I climbed on the quarry when I used to live up north. More accessible are the wedge holes in boulders further east at Limestone Corner between Brocolitia and Chester's forts. There, the Romans were trying to split dolerite boulders to get them out of the forward ditch of the Wall. There's a whole line of them in one block that seems to have defeated them. I used to love sitting there and imagining the scenario that must have played out with the hardened legionaries trying and failing to get rid of the block.
Here's a photo of the block I took last time I was there

Boulders in the north ditch, Hadrian's... © Karl and Ali cc-by-sa/2.0

Wherever the Wall was undefended by crags, the Romans dug a defensive ditch immediately to its north. Here, they were excavating through hard dolerite and gave up trying to break up these stubborn blocks. Their chisel marks can be seen on the top surface, mute testament to some hard effort and...

www.geograph.org.uk

 

[Lankyman]

Just found this nice little video of the smaller one of the quarries above Vindolanda. There are several small slots visible on the wall but I'm not sure how you'd know if they are Roman or later. You will also see the fairly obvious phallus at the far end which is most likely Roman. If that is Roman then the slot marks could well be too since they all pretty much seem to be on the same surface.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1675025166717129

 

[Brains]

Definitely recall a TV celebrity (Tony Robinson, Robson Green?) walking in that neck of the woods, featuring an area of ditch that looked to be limestone. It was discussed how the Romans removed the stone, including I think wedges...

Found this with a quick YT search .. might be relevant?