Milecastle 2
Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Milecastle 2 probably lies under the A187 road
Milecastle 2 is located in Tyne and Wear
Milecastle 2
Milecastle 2
Location in Tyne and Wear
Coordinates54°58′44″N 1°34′10″W / 54.978979°N 1.569447°W / 54.978979; -1.569447
Grid referenceNZ27656501

Milecastle 2 (Walker) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. No remains are currently visible, having been built over, but its probable location is at or near the junction of the A187 Fossway and Tunstall Avenue, in the parish of Wallsend.

Construction

Milecastle 2 was a short-axis milecastle of unknown gateway type. Short-axis milecastles were thought to have been constructed by the legio II Augusta who were based in Isca Augusta (Caerleon).[1]

Northing: 6482, Easting: 2705

Excavations and investigations

  • 1732 - Horsley surveyed the milecastle, noting visible remains and recording its position[2]
  • 1848 - Collingwood Bruce studied the wall[3] and found the site to have been covered by a brick kiln.[4]
  • 1852-4 - Henry MacLauchlan surveyed the milecastle's position, reporting it as short-axis, and recorded.[4]

faint traces of it being discernible in the ploughed ground.

  • 1928 - FG Simpson attempted to locate the site, but despite the previous removal of the brick kiln, found only Roman occupation earth and debris. He recorded distances from the presumed location to the centre of Milecastle 1 as 1,453 yards (1,329 m), and to the centre of Milecastle 3 as 1,453 yards (1,329 m).[4]

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 2 are known as Turret 2A and Turret 2B.

Turret 2A

No remains have been identified of Turret 2A. Two locations have been suggested, one by Eric Birley in 1961, [5] based on Horsley's locations of Milecastle 2 and Milecastle 3,and an alternative by Grace Simpson in 1978, based on Maclauchlin's locations of Milecastle 2 and Milecastle 3. [6]
Location: 54°58′39″N 1°34′33″W / 54.977519°N 1.575791°W / 54.977519; -1.575791 (Turret 2A) (both locations lie within the same 100m grid square).

Turret 2B

No remains have been identified of Turret 2B. Two locations have been suggested, one by Eric Birley in 1961, [5] based on Horsley's locations of Milecastle 2 and Milecastle 3,and an alternative by Grace Simpson in 1978, based on Maclauchlin's locations of Milecastle 2 and Milecastle 3. [7]
Location: 54°58′36″N 1°34′50″W / 54.976636°N 1.580487°W / 54.976636; -1.580487 (Turret 2B)
Alternative location: 54°58′36″N 1°34′55″W / 54.976642°N 1.582049°W / 54.976642; -1.582049 (Turret 2B Alternative)

Monument records

MonumentMonument NumberEnglish Heritage Archive Number
Milecastle 21003510NZ 26 NE 25
Turret 2A24898NZ 26 SE 13
Turret 2A (alternative)25012NZ 26 SE 57
Turret 2B24901NZ 26 SE 14
Turret 2B (alternative)25013NZ 26 SE 58

References

  1. ↑ David J Breeze and Brian Dobson (1976). Hadrian's Wall. Allen Lane. pp. 14–15. ISBN 0-14-027182-1.
  2. ↑ Horsley, John (1732), Britannia Romana or the Roman Antiquities of Britain, Frank Graham (published 1974), ISBN 0-85983-090-X
  3. ↑ Breeze, David J (1934), Handbook to the Roman Wall (14th Revised edition - Nov 2006), Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, p. 17, ISBN 0-901082-65-1
  4. 1 2 3 "Milecastle 2". Pastscape. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  5. 1 2 Birley, Eric B (1961), Research on Hadrian's Wall, Titus Wilson & Son, p. 71
  6. ↑ "Turret 2A". Pastscape. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2010.
  7. ↑ "Turret 2B". Pastscape. English Heritage. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2010.

Bibliography

  • Daniels, Charles (1979), "Review: Fact and Theory on Hadrian's Wall", Britannia, 10: 357–364, JSTOR 526069
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.