Milecastle 23, known as Stanley, was one of the small fortlets built at approximately one-Roman-mile intervals along Hadrian's Wall, constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and occupied, with interruptions, into the late 4th century. It lies between Halton Chesters and Portgate (the crossing of Dere Street) in Northumberland, and would have housed a small garrison of perhaps 8–32 auxiliary soldiers tasked with controlling movement through a gateway in the curtain wall.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its position is significant for its proximity to Portgate, where Dere Street — the major Roman road running north into Scotland — passed through the Wall, making this stretch a busy zone for traffic control, customs, and surveillance. Stanley itself, however, is one of the less prominent milecastles, overshadowed by the major fort at Halton Chesters (Onnum) and the gateway at Portgate immediately to its east.
Little survives visibly above ground at Stanley, and the milecastle has not been the subject of major modern excavation; its position and approximate plan are known largely from antiquarian observation, the regular spacing of the Wall system, and limited survey. No substantial assemblage of finds or detailed internal plan is published for this particular milecastle.
Milecastle 23, known as Stanley, was one of the small fortlets built at approximately one-Roman-mile intervals along Hadrian's Wall, constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and occupied, with interruptions, 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 23 (Stanley) 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 23A (Stanley Plantation) (0.5 km), Turret 22B (Stanley) (0.5 km), Turret 22A (Portgate) (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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