The fortlet near Castle Fields lies on the Cumberland coast in the vicinity of Maryport/Allonby, forming part of the system of coastal military installations extending the Hadrianic frontier south-westward beyond the western terminus of Hadrian's Wall at Bowness-on-Solway. Active broadly from the early 2nd century into at least the mid-2nd century AD, it would have been a small turf-and-timber post garrisoned by a detachment of perhaps 30–80 men, paired functionally with the coastal towers in a regular spacing scheme mirroring the milecastle-and-turret arrangement of the Wall itself.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its principal role was surveillance of the Solway Firth and the approaches from south-west Scotland, controlling movement along the shore and providing intermediate command points between the larger forts at Maryport (Alauna) and Beckfoot (Bibra). The Cumbrian coastal system is significant as a clear extension of Hadrian's frontier strategy, demonstrating that the limes was conceived as encompassing the seaward flank, not terminating at Bowness.
Very little has been recovered from this specific fortlet beyond identification of its earthworks and position; like several of its neighbours (e.g. fortlets at Cardurnock and Swarthy Hill), it has been recognised primarily through aerial photography, geophysics, and limited trenching rather than full excavation. No substantive finds
The fortlet near Castle Fields lies on the Cumberland coast in the vicinity of Maryport/Allonby, forming part of the system of coastal military installations extending the Hadrianic frontier south-westward beyond the western terminus of Hadrian's Wall at Bowness-on-Solway. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fortlet site from the Roman period in Britain.
Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields 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 B(r)ibra? (0.4 km), Bank Mill tower 15a, 250m north west of Belmont House, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast (0.6 km), Romano-British farmstead 250m ENE of Belmont House (0.7 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 Roman fortlet 40m SSW of Castle Fields