Milecastle 64 was one of the small fortlets spaced at roughly Roman-mile intervals along Hadrian's Wall, lying on the relatively flat ground east of Carlisle near Drawdykes Castle. Like other milecastles on this stretch, it would have been constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and occupied, with intermittent reorganisation, into the later 4th century; it likely housed a small detachment (perhaps 8–32 men) drawn from the nearest auxiliary garrison, controlling movement through a gateway in the Wall.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its function was primarily to police the frontier — monitoring north–south traffic, levying customs, and providing a fortified strongpoint in a sector of the Wall close to the Stanegate hinterland and the supply base at Luguvalium (Carlisle). Sitting in the central Cumbrian lowlands rather than the dramatic crags further east, it formed part of the more vulnerable, lower-lying western run of milecastles.
Milecastle 64 has seen little modern excavation; its position was identified topographically in line with the standard spacing, and remains are largely ploughed-out, with no significant upstanding structure visible. Antiquarian and 20th-century observation has confirmed its approximate location, but no substantial assemblage of finds or structural detail has been published, and it remains among the less well-documented milecast
Milecastle 64 was one of the small fortlets spaced at roughly Roman-mile intervals along Hadrian's Wall, lying on the relatively flat ground east of Carlisle near Drawdykes Castle. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 64 (Drawdykes) 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 65 (Tarraby) (1.2 km), Milecastle 63 (Walby West) (1.7 km), Turret 65B (2.2 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 64 (Drawdykes)