Milecastle 39, known as Castle Nick, is a well-preserved milecastle on Hadrian's Wall, situated in a natural dip between two crags along the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment west of Housesteads. Built in the early 130s AD as part of Hadrian's Wall system, it is a short-axis milecastle measuring roughly 15 by 18 metres internally, and was occupied with phases of modification into the late 4th century.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one of the small fortlets placed at every Roman mile along the Wall, Castle Nick housed a small garrison (probably 8–20 men) who controlled a gateway through the frontier and patrolled the adjacent stretches of curtain wall and turrets. Its survival as one of the most photogenic and visually complete milecastles makes it important for public understanding of the Wall, even if it was unremarkable in its own time.
Excavations were undertaken in the 1980s by the Northumberland National Park (notably under James Crow), revealing multiple barrack phases, hearths, and evidence of substantial reorganisation including post-Roman or sub-Roman reoccupation, with finds including coins, pottery, and metalwork spanning the 2nd to 4th centuries. The masonry stands several courses high, and the internal layout of long, narrow barrack buildings against the side walls is clearly visible today.
Milecastle 39, known as Castle Nick, is a well-preserved milecastle on Hadrian's Wall, situated in a natural dip between two crags along the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment west of Housesteads. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a watch tower site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 39 (Castle Nick) is classified as a Roman watch tower — 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 38B (Highshield Crag) (0.3 km), Turret 39A (Peel Crag) (0.4 km), Peel Gap Tower (0.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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Research the area around Milecastle 39 (Castle Nick)