Milecastle 9
Encyclopedia
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
(to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne
), 300 yards (274.3 m) from Chapel House Farm. However, the northern part of the remains are now mostly covered by the modern roads (A69
/B6528). The milecastle marks a watershed between those with relatively well defined positions (to the west) and those whose position are less certain (to the east).
who were based in Deva Victrix
(Chester
).
The only other known milecastles with Type IV gateways are Milecastle 27
and possibly Milecastle 10
.
The milecastle had internal dimensions of 48 in 10 in (14.88 m) wide by 60 feet (18.3 m) long, with gates 9 feet (2.7 m) wide. The side walls were 9 feet (2.7 m) thick with the south wall being slightly narrower and having rounded internal and external corners to the side walls. The side walls were constructed of a clay and rubble core, with mortared facing stones. Seven stones from the base course
were found to bear numerals
(5 of 'VIII', 1 of 'VIIII' and one of 'IX'). It is possible that these were cut at the quarry
.
A posthole has been found in the western portion of Milecastle 9, possibly indicating an earlier timber structure. The barrack block covered a reasonably small 32m2. As a result it has been suggested that the garrison size was 8 men, smaller than many other milecastles (which had up to 32). The stone built barracks was extended in the third century and another building of unknown function erected closeby to the west.
, though its precise position is unknown as no visible traces remain. Excavations were carried out to locate the turret in 1929 but failed to find it.
Presumed location: 54.9922°N 1.729511°W
whilst another source gives the distance as 570 yards (521.2 m), however it was recorded that it was built using the same substantial masonry as Turret 7B, with the door in the same position.
Location on Ordnance Survey 1:25 000 map: 54.993672°N 1.736733°W
Milecastle
A milecastle was a small fort , a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall in Great Britain , hence the name.Along Hadrian's Wall, milecastles were...
of the Roman
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....
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...
. Its remains exist partially as a low platform, and are located in West Denton
West Denton
West Denton, Newcastle upon Tyne is an area in the west part of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It includes West Denton shopping centre and West Denton fire station .Some of the schools in the area include:*West Denton Primary School...
(to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...
), 300 yards (274.3 m) from Chapel House Farm. However, the northern part of the remains are now mostly covered by the modern roads (A69
A69 road
The A69 is a major road in northern England, running east-west across the Pennines, through the counties of Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Cumbria. Originally the road started in Blaydon, but since the creation of the A1 Western Bypass around Newcastle upon Tyne, it now starts at Denton Burn a...
/B6528). The milecastle marks a watershed between those with relatively well defined positions (to the west) and those whose position are less certain (to the east).
Construction
Milecastle 9 was a long-axis milecastle with Type IV gateways (a broad wall variation of Type II gateways).). Such milecastles were thought to have been constructed by the Legio XX Valeria VictrixLegio 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...
who were based in Deva Victrix
Deva Victrix
Deva Victrix, or simply Deva, was a legionary fortress and town in the Roman province of Britannia. The settlement evolved into Chester, the county town of Cheshire, England...
(Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...
).
The only other known milecastles with Type IV gateways are Milecastle 27
Milecastle 27
One of a series of Milecastles or small fortlets built at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along Hadrian's Wall....
and possibly Milecastle 10
Milecastle 10
Milecastle 10 was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. It is located near to the modern village of Throckley, Tyne and Wear, in northern England. Much of the milecastle lies beneath a road but partial remains of the north wall can be seen in the garden of Dene House...
.
The milecastle had internal dimensions of 48 in 10 in (14.88 m) wide by 60 feet (18.3 m) long, with gates 9 feet (2.7 m) wide. The side walls were 9 feet (2.7 m) thick with the south wall being slightly narrower and having rounded internal and external corners to the side walls. The side walls were constructed of a clay and rubble core, with mortared facing stones. Seven stones from the base course
Course (architecture)
A course is a continuous horizontal layer of similarly-sized building material one unit high, usually in a wall. The term is almost always used in conjunction with unit masonry such as brick, cut stone, or concrete masonry units .-Styles:...
were found to bear numerals
Roman numerals
The numeral system of ancient Rome, or Roman numerals, uses combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet to signify values. The numbers 1 to 10 can be expressed in Roman numerals as:...
(5 of 'VIII', 1 of 'VIIII' and one of 'IX'). It is possible that these were cut at the quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
.
A posthole has been found in the western portion of Milecastle 9, possibly indicating an earlier timber structure. The barrack block covered a reasonably small 32m2. As a result it has been suggested that the garrison size was 8 men, smaller than many other milecastles (which had up to 32). The stone built barracks was extended in the third century and another building of unknown function erected closeby to the west.
Excavations and investigations
- 1840 - Hodgson wrote that "about 1790 strong foundations of masonry were dug up at Chapel Houses, on the site called Chapel".
- 1858 - MacLauchlan describes the remains of Chapel House as destroyed so that the outlines can barely be seen.
- 1929 - Only the foundation course of the milecastle's side walls were found to remain, but six courses above the foundation stones remained of the north and south walls. The milecastle's dimensions were established (including an estimate for the width of the south gate). Finds included:.
- A posthole found in the western portion. This indicates the possibility an earlier timber structure.
- Part of a stone barrack block. This covered a relatively small 32 square metres, suggested a garrison size of a ContuberniumContuberniumThe contubernium was the smallest organized unit of soldiers in the Roman Army and was composed of eight legionaries. The men within the contubernium were known as contubernales. Ten contubernia were grouped into a centuria...
(8 men), smaller than many other milecastles. The barracks was extended in the third century (probably to house 4 contubernia (32 men)). - A further building of unknown function erected a short distance.
- Pottery reflecting each Wall period
- Coins of Tetricus ITetricus IGaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus was Emperor of the Gallic Empire from 271 to 274, following the murder of Victorinus. Tetricus, who ruled with his son, Tetricus II, was the last of the Gallic emperors following his surrender to the Roman emperor Aurelian.-Reign:Tetricus was a senator born to a noble...
and also Valentinian IValentinian IValentinian I , also known as Valentinian the Great, was Roman emperor from 364 to 375. Upon becoming emperor he made his brother Valens his co-emperor, giving him rule of the eastern provinces while Valentinian retained the west....
(indicating the milecastle to be one of only 10 yielding 4th century material) - A gaming board
- A sword scabbard chape
- Part of a reliefReliefRelief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...
of a female figure - A further unusual find was that of a Roman or post-Roman cist burialCistA cist from ) is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East....
outside the south wall. It contained a headless skeleton thought to be of an individual of 17 years. Also, the bones of an adult man and a woman of about 20 were discovered close by. - The Military WayMilitary Way (Hadrian's Wall)The Military Way is a modern name given to the Roman road constructed immediately to the south of Hadrian's Wall. It should not be confused with the nearby Military Road.-Establishment:...
was discovered 32 feet (9.8 m) to the south running east-west, with a branch road to the gateway. At this point, the Military Way was more than 32 feet (9.8 m) wide, of sandstone penning with traces of a curb on the north side
- 1951 - Partial re-examination. The north gate was found, and identified to be a variant of Type II (now known as Type IV).
- 1966 - English HeritageEnglish HeritageEnglish Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
Field Investigation. It was noted that the major part of the milecastle had now been covered by road widening, but the southern portion was still evident as an ill defined ground swelling within an arable field. There was no evidence of the Military Way or branch road. Excavations were carried out to locate Turret 9A in 1928 but failed to find it.
- 1979 - English Heritage Field Investigation. It was noted that the site had become even more ill-defined since the previous investigation. The site showing no intelligible remains.
- Late 1990s - An English Heritage investigation found that Milecastle 9 was one of only 14 milecastles on cultivated land and that only it and Milecastle 19Milecastle 19One of a series of Milecastles or small fortlets built at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along Hadrian's Wall....
were being damaged by farming. Milecastle 9 suffered plough scores across the tops of the surviving walls (the south side lying under a farmer's field). It was concluded that the only way to prevent future plough damage is to take the land out of cultivation.
- 2000 - Partial re-examination. A flagged surface was recorded beyond the south-east corner, and evidence was found that the milecastle may have been constructed on earlier archaeological deposits. A layer of yellow clay was noted below the milecastle, possibly laid down as a building platform. A ditch was found to be present to the east of the milecastle, possibly part of the defences. If this were the case, Milecastle 9 would be one of only five milecastles where a perimeter ditch has been identified.
Associated Turrets
Each milecastle on Hadrian's Wall had two associated turret structures. These turrets were positioned approximately one-third and two-thirds of a Roman mile to the west of the Milecastle, and would probably have been manned by part of the milecastle's garrison. The turrets associated with Milecastle 9 are known as Turret 9A and Turret 9B.Turret 9A
Turret 9A is thought to lie beneath a modern road in WalbottleWalbottle
Walbottle is a village in Tyne and Wear. It is a western suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne. The village name, recorded in 1176 as "Walbotl", is derived from the Old English botl on the Roman Wall...
, though its precise position is unknown as no visible traces remain. Excavations were carried out to locate the turret in 1929 but failed to find it.
Presumed location: 54.9922°N 1.729511°W
Turret 9B
Turret 9B (Walbottle) is also located under a modern road (Hawthorn Terrace) near the west end of St. Cuthbert’s Primary School. Although surface remains are now obscured by the road, 19 feet (5.8 m) of Turret 9B's south wall was located in 1928, under a hedge to the north of the road. The precise position is a matter of dispute with the excavation report placing it 545 yards (498.3 m) east of Milecastle 10Milecastle 10
Milecastle 10 was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. It is located near to the modern village of Throckley, Tyne and Wear, in northern England. Much of the milecastle lies beneath a road but partial remains of the north wall can be seen in the garden of Dene House...
whilst another source gives the distance as 570 yards (521.2 m), however it was recorded that it was built using the same substantial masonry as Turret 7B, with the door in the same position.
Location on Ordnance Survey 1:25 000 map: 54.993672°N 1.736733°W
Monument Records
| Monument | Monument Number | National Monuments Record Number |
| Milecastle 9 | 22662 | NZ 16 NE 5 |
| Turret 9A | 22667 | NZ 16 NE 6 |
| Turret 9B | 22670 | NZ 16 NE 7 |