The Stanegate (meaning "stone gate" or "stone road" in Northumbrian dialect), was an important Roman road built in what is now northern England. It linked two forts that guarded important river crossings: Corstopitum (Corbridge) on the River Tyne in the east, and situated on Dere Street, and Luguvalium (Carlisle) on the River Eden in the west. The Stanegate ran through the natural gap formed by the valleys of the River Tyne in Northumberland and the River Irthing in Cumbria. It predated Hadrian's Wall by several decades; the Wall would later follow a similar route, slightly to the north.