Milecastle 65 was a small fortlet on Hadrian's Wall, situated east of Stanwix in what is now the eastern outskirts of Carlisle, near the hamlet of Tarraby. Like other milecastles, it was constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and would have been garrisoned by a detachment of auxiliary troops (likely 8–32 men) drawn from the nearby fort at Stanwix (Uxelodunum), serving until the broad withdrawal from the Wall frontier in the late 4th or early 5th century, albeit with periods of reduced occupation.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one of the milecastles in the central-western sector of the Wall, MC65 controlled movement across the frontier through its gateway and contributed to the surveillance system linking the major cavalry fort at Stanwix — headquarters of the ala Petriana, the largest auxiliary cavalry unit in Britain — with the wider Wall garrison. Its position immediately east of this command centre gave it particular logistical relevance, though it has no recorded individual distinction.
The site has seen limited investigation; a 1976 excavation by the Tarraby Lane project examined the Wall and Vallum in this vicinity, recovering evidence of native pre-Roman activity and Wall construction sequences, but the milecastle structure itself is poorly known and no surface remains are visible today. Its
Milecastle 65 was a small fortlet on Hadrian's Wall, situated east of Stanwix in what is now the eastern outskirts of Carlisle, near the hamlet of Tarraby. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 65 (Tarraby) 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 65B (1 km), Uxelodu(nu)m (1.1 km), Milecastle 64 (Drawdykes) (1.2 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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