Tower 12b is a Roman signal/watch tower forming part of the Cumbrian coast defences, the system of milefortlets and intermediate towers that extended Hadrian's Wall's frontier south-west from Bowness-on-Solway down the Solway coast. Built in the early 2nd century AD (c. AD 122–130s) under Hadrian and broadly contemporary with the Wall itself, it occupied the standard position roughly one-third of a Roman mile between Milefortlet 12 and Milefortlet 13, monitoring the shoreline and approaches from the Solway Firth.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one element in a regularly spaced chain of towers along the Cumberland shore, it provided surveillance of a low, exposed coastline that could be crossed at low tide, preventing the frontier from being flanked by sea — a non-walled extension of Hadrian's frontier system, paired with the auxiliary forts at Maryport, Beckfoot and Burrow Walls.
Like most of the Cumbrian coast towers, the site was identified through aerial photography and field survey rather than full excavation, and would have comprised a small square stone or timber-on-stone tower (c. 6m square) within a ditched enclosure; no substantial published finds assemblage is recorded for 12b specifically, and surviving remains on the golf course are largely subsurface.
Tower 12b is a Roman signal/watch tower forming part of the Cumbrian coast defences, the system of milefortlets and intermediate towers that extended Hadrian's Wall's frontier south-west from Bowness-on-Solway down the Solway coast. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a site site from the Roman period in Britain.
Silloth Golf Course tower 12b, 410m north west of Heatherbank, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast is classified as a Roman site — a civilian 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 Silloth Golf Course tower 12a, 670m WNW of Blitterlees Farm, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast (0.5 km), Prehistoric enclosure and hut circle, a Romano-British enclosure, and a Romano-British farmstead and associated field system north of Wolsty Hall (0.7 km), Blitterlees (milefortlet 12), part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast (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 Silloth Golf Course tower 12b, 410m north west of Heatherbank, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast