Milecastle 79 was one of the small fortlets spaced at approximately Roman-mile intervals along Hadrian's Wall, situated near the western terminus of the frontier on the low ground approaching the Solway Firth. Like its neighbours in this sector, it was constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and likely remained in some form of use through the second and into the later Roman period, though its precise occupational sequence is poorly resolved. In this western stretch the Wall itself was originally built in turf, so Milecastle 79 was almost certainly a turf-and-timber structure initially, later rebuilt in stone.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one of the westernmost milecastles, MC 79 helped control movement across the wet coastal flats north of the Wall and connected the curtain to the wider Cumberland coast system of milefortlets and towers extending south-west from Bowness-on-Solway. It would have housed a small detachment performing gate-keeping, patrol, and signalling duties rather than serving any major garrison role.
Milecastle 79 has seen only limited modern investigation; its position is known from the regular spacing of the Wall's milecastles and from antiquarian and survey work, but no substantial published excavation has clarified its plan, internal buildings, or finds assemblage. Aerial and geophysical observations in the Solway plain have at times suggested cropmark traces, but firm archaeological
Milecastle 79 was one of the small fortlets spaced at approximately Roman-mile intervals along Hadrian's Wall, situated near the western terminus of the frontier on the low ground approaching the Solway Firth. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 79 (Solway 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 79A (0.4 km), Turret 78B (0.5 km), Knockcross Roman temporary camp at Grey Havens (0.7 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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