Milecastle 5 (Quarry House) was a small fortlet on Hadrian's Wall in the eastern sector, situated between Wallsend (Segedunum) and Newcastle, roughly in the area of modern Walker. Like other milecastles on the Wall, it would have been constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and remained in use, with periods of refurbishment, into the late 4th century; it likely housed a small garrison of perhaps 8–32 auxiliary soldiers controlling a gateway through the Wall.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its role was to regulate movement across the frontier on the urban eastern stretch approaching the Tyne, providing surveillance, customs control, and a base for patrolling between Turrets 5a and 5b. As one of the easternmost milecastles, it formed part of the densely-spaced fortifications guarding the approach to the Wall's terminus at Wallsend.
The site has not been confidently located or excavated; its presumed position lies beneath modern housing and industrial development in east Newcastle, and no significant structural remains or finds have been published. Its existence and approximate location are inferred from the regular Roman spacing of milecastles (one Roman mile apart) rather than from direct archaeological evidence.
Milecastle 5 (Quarry House) was a small fortlet on Hadrian's Wall in the eastern sector, situated between Wallsend (Segedunum) and Newcastle, roughly in the area of modern Walker. 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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