Milecastle 33 (Shield on the Wall) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall, one of a series of small fortlets built at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along the length of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern England.
Its remains exist as clearly visible earthworks, with the exception of part of the north gate and wall, and a fragment of the south gate, which are exposed. Exposed parts survive to a maximum height of 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in) (north wall). The remains are located a few metres to the north of the B6318 Military Road.
Milecastle 33 was a long-axis milecastle with Type II gateways. Such milecastles were thought to have been constructed by the legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based in Deva Victrix (Chester). The external dimensions of the milecastle are 78 feet (24 m) by 68 feet (21 m), and the large, monolithic threshold installed is of the same type installed in milecastles 13, 17, and 53.
1930 – A fragment of ornamented stone with a distinct pattern of leaves is found at the North gate.
1935–36 – The milecastle is excavated, and the dimensions and remaining structure established.
1966 – English Heritage Field Investigation. The 1935–36 findings were reconfirmed.
1988 – English Heritage Field Investigation as part of the Hadrian's Wall Project. It was noted that the maximum height of surviving masonry (at the north wall) was 1.2 metres (3 ft 11 in). Other previous findings are reconfirmed.
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 33 are known as Turret 33A and Turret 33B.
Located in 1920, nothing now remains of Turret 33A, due to extensive stone robbing. Its position was stated by Eric Birley in 1961 as "150 yds. east of the twenty-seventh milestone at the bridge crossing the Coesike".
Location on Ordnance Survey 1:25 000 map: 55.030132°N 2.273380°W / 55.030132; -2.273380 (Turret 33A)
Turret 33B (Coesike) is located approximately 150 metres (490 ft) west of the point where the wall line and the B6318 Military Road diverge. It has been exposed, and consolidated to a maximum height of 1.1 metres (3 ft 7 in). In plan, the turret has an entrance to the east end of the south wall, with a platform in the south-west corner, and a hearth at the centre. The walls are 0.9 metres (2 ft 11 in) thick. It was built with broad wing walls of Standard A, which join to a narrow gauge wall at this reach. Material used for the blocking of the rear recess mentioned below included an inscribed stone naming the Legio VI Victrix. This suggests that this legion were responsible for the original construction.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Milecastle 33 (Shield on the Wall) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall, one of a series of small fortlets built at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along the length of the UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern England. Its remains exist as clearly visible earthworks, with the exception of part of the north gate and wall, and a fragment of the south gate, which are exposed. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 33 (Shield-on-the-Wall) 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 32B (Brown Moor) (0.5 km), Turret 33A (0.5 km), Turret 33B (Coesike) (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
This page covers the Roman site at Milecastle 33 (Shield-on-the-Wall). A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain, drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Milecastle 33 (Shield-on-the-Wall)