This is a preserved stretch of the Vallum and an associated early Roman road running through the central sector of Hadrian's Wall, in the area east of Sewingshields and west of Housesteads (Vercovicium), crossing wall miles 34, 35 and 36. The Vallum here — a flat-bottomed ditch flanked by north and south mounds — was dug c. AD 122–128 as part of the original Hadrianic Wall scheme, and remained a feature of the frontier zone throughout the 2nd–4th centuries, though partially slighted and crossed in later periods. The "early Roman road" likely refers to the Military Way or an earlier service track linking the milecastles and turrets along this rugged Whin Sill stretch.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The Vallum defined the southern limit of the military zone behind the Wall, controlling civilian access and movement, while the road provided lateral communication between garrisons at Housesteads and Carrawburgh — making this corridor critical to the operational coherence of the central frontier. The classification as "civilian" reflects its function as a controlled boundary regulating non-military traffic rather than any settlement here.
The Vallum is clearly visible as an earthwork across this section and has been mapped repeatedly since MacLauchlan's 1858 survey and through the work of the
This is a preserved stretch of the Vallum and an associated early Roman road running through the central sector of Hadrian's Wall, in the area east of Sewingshields and west of Housesteads (Vercovicium), crossing wall miles 34, 35 and 36. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a site site from the Roman period in Britain.
The vallum and early Roman road between the field boundary east of turret 34a and the field boundary west of milecastle 36 in wall miles 34, 35 and 36 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 Turret 35B (Busy Gap) (0.6 km), Milecastle 35 (Sewingshields) (0.6 km), Turret 35A (Sewingshields Crag) (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 The vallum and early Roman road between the field boundary east of turret 34a and the field boundary west of milecastle 36 in wall miles 34, 35 and 36