Milecastle 12 (Heddon) is a milecastle on Hadrian's Wall located just west of Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, constructed in the 120s AD as part of the original Hadrianic frontier scheme and likely occupied, with intermittent refurbishment, into the late 4th century. Like other milecastles, it was a small fortlet attached to the south face of the curtain wall, housing a garrison of perhaps 20–30 auxiliary soldiers and controlling a gated passage through the Wall.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its primary role was to police movement across the frontier and provide a regular military presence between the larger forts, in this stretch flanking the long, relatively low-lying ground east of the North Tyne crossing. It is not individually distinguished in the historical record, but forms part of the systematic spacing (roughly one Roman mile apart) that defines the Wall's frontier logic.
The site has seen no major modern excavation and its surface remains are slight, having been heavily affected by the Military Road (B6318) which overlies the Wall here; its position is established largely from the regular milecastle spacing and limited antiquarian and survey observation. No significant assemblage of inscriptions, structures, or finds is published specifically for MC12, and its plan (long-axis or short-axis, gate type) remains uncertain.
Milecastle 12 (Heddon) is a milecastle on Hadrian's Wall located just west of Heddon-on-the-Wall, Northumberland, constructed in the 120s AD as part of the original Hadrianic frontier scheme and likely occupied, with intermittent refurbishment, into the late 4th century. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 12 (Heddon) 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 Turret 11B (Great Hill) (0.5 km), Turret 12A (Heddon West) (0.5 km), Turret 11A (Heddon Hall) (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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