Milecastle 9 (Chapel House) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. Its remains exist partially as a low platform, and are located in West Denton (to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne), 300 yards (270 m) from Chapel House Farm. However, the northern part of the remains are now mostly covered by the modern roads (A69/B6528). The milecastle marks a watershed between those with relatively well-defined positions (to the west) and those whose position are less certain (to the east). Milecastle 9 (Chapel House) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian’s Wall. Constructed during the early 2nd century AD under Emperor Hadrian, it formed part of the defensive network that marked the northern frontier of Roman Britain. Its remains, though mostly buried beneath modern roads, provide evidence of Roman military architecture and the organization of frontier defenses in the region.
Milecastle 9 was a long-axis milecastle with Type IV gateways (a broad wall variation of Type II gateways).). Such milecastles were thought to have been constructed by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based in Deva Victrix (Chester).
The only other known milecastles with Type IV gateways are Milecastle 27 and possibly Milecastle 10.
The milecastle had internal dimensions of 48 feet 10 inches (14.88 m) wide by 60 feet (18 m) long, with gates 9 feet (2.7 m) wide. The side walls were 9 feet (2.7 m) thick with the south wall being slightly narrower and having rounded internal and external corners to the side walls. The side walls were constructed of a clay and rubble core, with mortared facing stones. Seven stones from the base course were found to bear numerals (5 of 'VIII', 1 of 'VIIII' and one of 'IX'). It is possible that these were cut at the quarry.
A posthole has been found in the western portion of Milecastle 9, possibly indicating an earlier timber structure. The barrack block covered a reasonably small 32m2. As a result, it has been suggested that the garrison size was 8 men, smaller than many other milecastles (which had up to 32). The stone built barracks was extended in the third century and another building of unknown function erected close by to the west.
1840 – Hodgson wrote that "about 1790 strong foundations of masonry were dug up at Chapel Houses, on the site called Chapel".
1858 – Henry MacLauchlan describes the remains of Chapel House as destroyed so that the outlines can barely be seen.
1929 - Only the foundation course of the milecastle's side walls were found to remain, but six courses above the foundation stones remained of the north and south walls. The milecastle's dimensions were established (including an estimate for the width of the south gate). Finds included:.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Milecastle 9 (Chapel House) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Milecastle 9 (Chapel 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 9A (0.5 km), Turret 8B (Union Hall) (0.5 km), Turret 9B (Walbottle) (0.9 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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This page covers the Roman site at Milecastle 9 (Chapel House). A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
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