AN UNDISCOVERED stretch of Hadrian’s Wall has been unearthed by archaeologists on the route of the £30 million Carlisle Northern Development by-pass.

The team of archaeologists from Cumbria County Council have discovered a section of the Roman wall and fragments of ancient pottery on the banks of the River Eden near Stainton, west of Carlisle. The discovery is directly on the line of the planned Northern Development Route and could mean further delays to the long-awaited by-pass – now more than three years late.

The Northern Development Route (CNDR), which will provide a vital link between West Cumbria and the M6, should have opened last December. Work on the road, which is seen as crucial in relieving crippling traffic congestion in Carlisle, was to start in 2006 and be complete in 2008.

A county council spokesman said archaeologists had found several fragments of Roman pottery. He said: “A single course of flat stones was also discovered, which is likely to have been the base of the wall, and on the southern side of the wall there was clear evidence of the vallum – an earthwork mound and ditch. The position of the new find broadly matches the assumed line of Hadrian’s Wall west of the city.”

County archaeologist Richard Newman described the historic find as “significant.” He said: “Before this find we did not know whether the wall survived to the immediate west of Carlisle.”