Milecastle 5 (Quarry House) was the first milecastle west of Pons Aelius fort of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. No remains exist of the milecastle, though its supposed position is at the junction of the A186 Westgate road and the B1311 Corporation Street. No remains currently exist.
Nothing is known of the long/axis or gateways type of Milecastle 5.
thought there were visible signs of a castellum just behind the quarry-house
1858 - Henry MacLauchlan agreed the location, stating that:It is probable there was a Mile Castle where the Wall makes a bend at the top of Westgate Road
1968 - English Heritage Field Investigation. It was noted that all traces of the Milecastle had been obliterated by modern development.
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 5 are known as Turret 5A and Turret 5B.
The discovery of Milecastle 4 some way from its presumed location has brought into question the presumed sites of all milecastles and turrets in this area. However, the site is included in the English Heritage Archive.
Presumed location: 54.973223°N 1.636761°W / 54.973223; -1.636761 (Turret 5A)
The discovery of Milecastle 4 some way from its presumed location has brought into question the presumed sites of all milecastles and turrets in this area. However, the site is included in the English Heritage Archive.
Presumed location: 54.974144°N 1.644564°W / 54.974144; -1.644564 (Turret 5B)
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 5 (Quarry House) was the first milecastle west of Pons Aelius fort 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 5 (Quarry House) 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 4B (0.4 km), Turret 5A (0.5 km), Milecastle 4 (Westgate Road) (0.7 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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