Milecastle 77 (Raven Bank) was one of the small fortlets spaced at approximately one Roman mile intervals along Hadrian's Wall, lying on the western, Cumbrian stretch between Bowness-on-Solway and Drumburgh. Like its neighbours in this sector, it would have been built initially in turf and timber under Hadrian (c. AD 122–130s), probably later rebuilt in stone, and was occupied intermittently into the later 4th century. It would have housed a small detachment (perhaps 8–32 men) drawn from auxiliary units based in the larger forts at Bowness (Maia) and Drumburgh (Coggabata).
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its primary function was to control movement across the Wall via a gated passage, monitoring the low-lying coastal landscape approaching the Solway Firth, where the frontier transitions from a constructed wall to a system of fortlets and towers along the Cumbrian coast. The milecastles in this western Turf Wall sector are particularly important for understanding the early Hadrianic frontier, since they preserve evidence for its initial turf-built phase.
Milecastle 77 has not been substantively excavated, and its exact position has been debated; like several milecastles in this western sector, surface traces have been largely obliterated by ploughing and coastal land-use, with its presence inferred chiefly from the regular spacing of the Wall system. No significant finds assemblage is published for this
Milecastle 77 (Raven Bank) was one of the small fortlets spaced at approximately one Roman mile intervals along Hadrian's Wall, lying on the western, Cumbrian stretch between Bowness-on-Solway and Drumburgh. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 77 (Raven Bank) 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 Drumburgh Roman fort and Hadrian's Wall between Burgh Marsh and Westfield House in wall miles 76 and 77 (0.3 km), Turret 76A (Drumburgh) (0.9 km), Congavata (1.1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Milecastle 77 (Raven Bank)