Milecastle 50 TW (High House) is one of the milecastles of the Turf Wall sector of Hadrian's Wall, west of the River Irthing, where the Wall was initially built in turf c. AD 122 before being rebuilt in stone, probably in the AD 130s–160s. It was a small fortlet enclosing roughly 0.07 ha, with turf-and-clay ramparts and timber internal buildings (barrack and possibly a small store), housing perhaps 8–32 auxiliary soldiers responsible for controlling movement through a gateway in the Wall.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one of the few Turf Wall milecastles to have been extensively investigated, MC 50 TW is critical evidence for the original form of Hadrian's frontier in its turf-built western sector, and for the sequence by which timber-and-turf installations were later replaced in stone. Its plan and dimensions have become a type-reference for Turf Wall milecastles.
Excavated by F. G. Simpson in 1909 (and revisited subsequently), the site revealed a turf rampart on a cobble base, north and south timber gateways, and two timber internal buildings; finds and structural sequences indicated two main timber phases before the milecastle was superseded when the Wall was rebuilt in stone slightly to the north, leaving the Turf Wall milecastle abandoned. The site is now largely below ground with no visible upstanding remains.
Milecastle 50 TW (High House) is one of the milecastles of the Turf Wall sector of Hadrian's Wall, west of the River Irthing, where the Wall was initially built in turf c. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 50 (Turf Wall) (High 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 Milecastle 50 (High House) (0.2 km), Turret 50A (Turf Wall) (0.5 km), Turret 49B (Turf Wall) (0.5 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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