Haltwhistle Burn fortlet was a small Roman military outpost on the Stanegate frontier road, guarding the point where it crossed the steep ravine of the Haltwhistle Burn in Northumberland. It was occupied in the early 2nd century AD, probably c. AD 105–125, forming part of the system of Stanegate installations (alongside Throp, Boothby, and the larger forts at Vindolanda, Carvoran, and Nether Denton) that was superseded when Hadrian's Wall was built immediately to the north c. AD 122. The fortlet was roughly 0.2 hectares in size, with a stone wall and internal timber buildings sufficient for a detachment of perhaps 60–80 men.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
It is one of the key sites demonstrating the pre-Wall Stanegate frontier system, the Roman response to controlling movement across the Tyne–Solway isthmus before the decision was taken to build a continuous linear barrier. Its abandonment on the completion of Hadrian's Wall illustrates the abrupt reorganisation of the northern frontier in the 120s.
The site was excavated in 1908 by Gibson and Simpson, who recorded a stone-walled enclosure with internal barrack-type ranges, gateways, and indications of relatively short-lived occupation; pottery supported an early 2nd-century date. Nearby temporary camps recorded in the same vicinity are generally inter
Haltwhistle Burn fortlet was a small Roman military outpost on the Stanegate frontier road, guarding the point where it crossed the steep ravine of the Haltwhistle Burn in Northumberland. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Haltwhistle Burn Roman Fortlet and Camp is classified as a Roman fortlet — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Haltwhistle Burn 1 Roman temporary camp, fortlet and section of the Stanegate (0.4 km), Markham Cottage Roman temporary camps 1 and 2, a section of the Stanegate Roman road, a length of Roman road and two Roman cemeteries (0.5 km), Haltwhistle Burn Temporary Camp 4 (0.6 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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