Solway Firth

The Solway Firth” show=””] is a tidal inlet that forms the border between Cumbria in northwestern England and Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland. At low tide dangerous mudflats emerge with quicksands.
It is measured from St. Bees Head near Whitehaven to the Mull of Galloway. The Isle of Man lies just outside the Firth.

The name Solway is from the Saxon words ‘Sol’ meaning mud, and ‘Wath’ meaning ford. Solway means muddy ford.
Farmers used the crossings to drive their cattle to markets, as did invading Armies in both directions.
These fords became passable at very low spring tides. The main crossings of the Solway were:
- Bowness wath (or Annan wath)
  - Bowness-on-Solway to Seafield in Scotland.
  - In 1869 the Solway Junction Railway built a viaduct along this route to connect Bowness with Annan, It was dismantled in 1934.
- Sandy wath
  - Drumburgh to Dornock in Scotland
- Sul wath
  - Across the mouth of the river Esk
- Peat wath
  - Across the mouth of the river Eden

Medieval Drumburgh Castle now stands near the site of a Roman Fort, built entirely with reused stone from the Roman Wall and Fort.
The Roman fort was called Coggabata, which was part of Hadrian's Wall.
The fort controlled a ford known as the Sandy wath, which crossed the Solway Firth at low tide from Drumburgh to Dornock in Scotland.

Hadrian’s Wall ran along the southern shore of the Solway Firth from Bowness-on-Solway to Wallsend. Behind it ran a Roman road called the Military Way.
A series of Roman Watchtowers then ran from Bowness-on-Solway to Maryport, and possibly continued around the Cumbrian coast.

Solway Firth