Milecastle 3 (Ouseburn) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. No remains exist, but it was thought to have been located at the junction of the A187 Byker Bridge and Stephen Street.
No evidence exists as to the configuration or type of Milecastle 3, though the curtain wall at this stage was almost certainly a narrow configuration.
1732 - Horsley surveyed the milecastle, recording its position.
1776 - The location was visited by Stukeley, who sketched the area for his Iter Boreale.
1789 - Brand visited the site, but noted that many of the stones had been removed from the foundations some years previously, for use in the building of an adjoining house.
1848 - Collingwood Briuce reported that a small, partly illegible altar had been found close to the presumed site of the milecastle. The altar (NMR Number: NZ 26 SE 227) was dedicated by Julius Maximus. Having searched the area, he could find no trace of Roman remains.
1858 - Henry MacLauchlan surveyed the area but reported no dependable trace of the milecastle.
1928 - FG Simpson measured the distance from Milecastle 2 to Milecastle 3 as 1,450 yards (1,330 m).
1979 - Exploratory trenches were sunk during the building of the Metro, revealing no trace of the milecastle.
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 3 are known as Turret 3A and Turret 3B.
Nothing is known of Turret 3A and it was presumed to be located around 54.974892°N 1.596128°W / 54.974892; -1.596128 (Turret 3A). In September 2022 Pre-Construct Archaeology announced that they had located the turret at approximately 54°58′28″N 1°35′44.5″W, during surveys in advance of construction of student accommodation. Excavations found the walls of the turret in addition to a ditch and six obstacle pits. Turret 3A became the most easterly known turret on the wall. The turret was recorded as having a length of around 12 metres (39 ft) and foundations of 2.36–2.46 metres (7 ft 9 in – 8 ft 1 in) in width. The interior of the turret is thought to have been truncated by late 19th or early 20th century construction work. A Roman tegula tile was recovered, suggesting that the turret may have had a tiled roof.
Presumed location: 54.972217°N 1.602403°W / 54.972217; -1.602403 (Turret 3B)
Daniels, Charles (1979), "Review: Fact and Theory on Hadrian's Wall", Britannia, 10: 357–364, JSTOR 526069
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Milecastle 3 (Ouseburn) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 3 (Ouseburn) 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 3A (0.5 km), Turret 2B (0.5 km), Turret 3B (0.9 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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