Milecastle
Encyclopedia
A milecastle was a small fort (fortlet), a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
in Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
(Britannia
Britannia
Britannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
in the Roman period), hence the name.
Along Hadrian's Wall, milecastles were initially constructed of stone in the eastern two thirds, and stacked turf with a wooden palisade in the western third, though the turf milecastles were later rebuilt in stone. Size varied, but in general they were about 15m by 18m (16 by 20 yards) internally, with stone walls as much as 3m (10 feet) thick and probably 5m to 6m (17 to 20 feet) high, to match the height of the adjacent wall. There were 80 milecastles and 158 turrets.
On Hadrian's Wall, a milecastle (there are a few exceptions) guarded a gateway through the Wall with a corresponding causeway across the Wall ditch to the north, and had a garrison of perhaps 20–30 auxiliary
Auxiliaries (Roman military)
Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen legions...
soldiers housed in two barrack blocks. On either side of the milecastle was a stone tower (turret), located about one-third of a Roman mile (500m or 540 yards) away. It is assumed that the garrison also supplied soldiers to man the turrets. The milecastle's garrison controlled the passage of people, goods and livestock across the frontier, and it is likely that the milecastle acted as a customs post to levy taxation on that traffic.
A system of milecastles and intervening stone watchtowers extended from the western end of Hadrian's Wall, along the Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
n coast as far as Ravenglass
Ravenglass
Ravenglass is a small coastal village and natural harbour in Cumbria, England. It is the only coastal town within the Lake District National Park...
, but they were linked by a wooden palisade and not a wall fronted by a deep ditch, and they had no gateway through the palisade.
Terminology and numbering
The term Milecastle was formalised by Robert Smith in 1708, but was in informal use by locals before that date. It generally refers to the installations attached to the curtain wall, with the term 'Milefortlet' being widely used to refer to similar installations that continued along the Cumbrian coast and were contemporary with the Milecastles. Turrets standing between Milefortlets are referred to as 'Towers'.Milecastles are numbered from 1 (the Easternmost Milecastle) to 80 in the West. This system was introduced by J. Collingwood Bruce in 1930, though Peter Hill has suggested that there may have additionally been a Milecastle 0. Milefortlets are numbered from 1 (West of Bowness on Solway) possibly as far as 26 (at Flimby
Flimby
Flimby is a village in the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. Historically within Cumberland, it forms part of the civil parish of Maryport.Flimby railway station is on the Cumbrian Coast Line...
). The widely used shorthand is, for example, 'MC1', 'MC2', etc. for Milecastles and 'MF1', 'MF2', etc. for Milefortlets. Intervening Turret
Turret
In architecture, a turret is a small tower that projects vertically from the wall of a building such as a medieval castle. Turrets were used to provide a projecting defensive position allowing covering fire to the adjacent wall in the days of military fortification...
s and Towers are referred to with an alphabetic suffix, so the turrets to the West of MC20 would be Turrets 20a and 20b, or 'T20a' and 'T20b'. Despite evidence of the curtain wall continuing for around a quarter of a mile west of Bowness-on-Solway, the Turrets between MC80 and MF1 are known as Towers 0a and 0b.
Where the Turf Wall and Stone Walls diverge from one another (just to the west of Birdoswald), Milecastles and Turrets unique to the Turf Wall are given a 'TW' suffix, for example 'MC50 TW'.
Gateways
The milecastles of Hadrian's WallHadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
are recognised as having three principal types of gateway.
Type I have piers
Pier (architecture)
In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...
protruding symmetrically on the inside and outside of the gateway, with respond
Respond
A respond is a half-pier or half-pillar which is bonded into a wall and designed to carry the springer at one end of an arch....
s on both the inside and outside. The piers and passage-walls tend to be in large masonry, and the structure is broader (E to W) than it is deep (N to S, i.e. between the gateways). Examples are MC 38 (Hotbank)
Milecastle 38
Milecastle 38 is a milecastle fortlet on Hadrian's Wall in the vicinity of Hotbank Farm. It is notable for the joint inscription bearing the names of the emperor Hadrian and Aulus Platorius Nepos, the governor of Brittania at the time the Wall was built.The stone reads:- External links :...
and MC 42 (Cawfields)
Milecastle 42
One of a series of Milecastles or small fortlets built at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along Hadrian's Wall....
. Generally thought to have been built by legio II Augusta
Legio II Augusta
Legio secunda Augusta , was a Roman legion, levied by Gaius Vibius Pansa Caetronianus in 43 BC, and still operative in Britannia in the 4th century...
.
Type II have piers protruding on the inside of the gateway, with responds on outside. The piers and passage-walls tend to be in smaller masonry than Type I. Only found on Narrow Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
milecastles; when similar gateways are found on Broad Wall
Hadrian's Wall
Hadrian's Wall was a defensive fortification in Roman Britain. Begun in AD 122, during the rule of emperor Hadrian, it was the first of two fortifications built across Great Britain, the second being the Antonine Wall, lesser known of the two because its physical remains are less evident today.The...
milecastles, it is sometimes referred to as Type IV. An example is MC 9 (Chapel House)
Milecastle 9
Milecastle 9 was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. Its remains exist partially as a low platform, and are located in West Denton , from Chapel House Farm. However, the northern part of the remains are now mostly covered by the modern roads...
. Generally thought to have been built by legio XX Valeria Victrix
Legio XX Valeria Victrix
Legio vigesima Valeria Victrix was a Roman legion, probably raised by Augustus some time after 31 BC. It served in Hispania, Illyricum, and Germania before participating in the invasion of Britannia in 43 AD, where it remained and was active until at least the beginning of the 4th century...
.
Type III have piers protruding on the inside of the gateway, with responds on both the inside and outside. The piers tend to be in large masonry and the passage-walls in smaller material. Examples are MC 47
Milecastle 47
One of a series of Milecastles or small fortlets built at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along Hadrian's Wall....
(Chapel House, E of Gilsland
Gilsland
Gilsland is a village in northern England about west of Hexham, and about east of Carlisle, which straddles the border between Cumbria and Northumberland...
) and MC 48 (Poltross Burn)
Milecastle 48
Milecastle 48 , one of the milecastles on Hadrian's Wall, is situated in the village of Gilsland in Cumbria immediately adjacent to the Tyne Valley Line...
. Generally thought to have been built by legio VI Victrix
Legio VI Victrix
Legio sexta Victrix was a Roman legion founded by Octavian in 41 BC. It was the twin legion of VI Ferrata and perhaps held veterans of that legion, and some soldiers kept to the traditions of the Caesarian legion....
.
Axes
Two types of milecastle are discernable in plan. These are known as 'Long Axis' and 'Short Axis', with the referred axis being that between the northern and southern gateways. The only (known) exception is the Milecastle 79Milecastle 79
One of a series of Milecastles or small fortlets built at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along Hadrian's Wall. Milecastle 79 is the only known milecastle of a unique plan, distinct from the two common types of plan seen in all other milecastles. Milecastle 79 was originally a Turf Wall...
. This was a Turf Wall milecastle, which was subsequently rebuilt with stone.
- Gateway Type I – Short-axis milecastles built by legio II Augusta
- Gateway Types II and IV – long-axis milecastles built by legio XX Valeria Victrix
- Gateway Type III – Long-axis milecastles built by legio VI Victrix