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Leaving Drumburgh, the road runs straight alongside the marshside with the track of the old Carlisle-Silloth railway on the right, till it reaches Burgh by Sands. This is a long village of fine houses, some of them seventeenth and eighteenth century, set well back from the road. The village, famous for its mushrooms, is five miles north-west of Carlisle, where the river Eden runs into the Solway Firth, on the site of Hadrian's Wall.
About a mile from the village, on Burgh Marsh, is where Edward I died whilst preparing for war against the Scots, on the 7th July 1307. A monument marking the spot where he died can be seen here. Edward I's Monument..It stands by the marshes, isolated and atmospheric. The pillar was erected in 1685 and re-built and restored twice in the 19th century.
The Romans came to Burgh long before Hadrian's Wall was built across the marsh. Their first fort was discovered south of the village in 1978. It was dated as AD95 and had inside it a circular watch-tower which was earlier still. The later fort was a bigger, much more important one, housing 500 cavalry who were ready to dash off to any place where an invasion seemed to be pending. In the thirteenth century there was a castle at Burgh for the same purpose. It has long been demolished, but two fields still named Spillblood and Hangman-Tree tell their own story.
The parish church of St Michael was built in the main from stones from the Roman fort, on the site of which the church stands, in the 12th century, though the tower was not added until the 14th century. The entrance from the nave of the church to the ground chamber is guarded by a cross-barred door made of hammered iron. A stone staircase leads to an upper chamber and there are arrow slits for defence and light. One can assume the tower would have been used as a place for refuge during the Border wars. Into this the villagers could flee on receiving warning, closing the heavy iron gate behind them. The gate is still intact to this day. Look at the foot of the tower, for here will be seen the marks on the stone-work where the village men used to sharpen their spears before a raid.
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