Turret 18A was one of the regularly-spaced stone observation towers built into the fabric of Hadrian's Wall, positioned between Milecastles 18 (East Wallhouses) and 19 (Matfen Piers) in the central-eastern sector of the frontier in Northumberland. Like its paired counterparts, it was constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and would have been a roughly square tower (c. 4.3m internally) projecting from the rear of the curtain wall, manned by a small detachment drawn from the auxiliary garrison of a nearby fort, probably Rudchester (Vindobala) or Halton Chesters (Onnum). It was likely occupied into the later 2nd century, with most turrets in this stretch abandoned and recessed by the Severan period or shortly after.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As part of the integrated turret-and-milecastle observation system, 18A contributed to continuous surveillance and signalling along the Wall, controlling movement across the frontier rather than acting as a defensive strongpoint in its own right. It is not individually notable, but forms part of the densely-studied Wallhouses sector where the relationship between the Wall, Vallum and Military Way is well preserved.
Turret 18A has seen only limited investigation compared to better-known turrets such as 26B (Brunton) or 29A (Black Carts), and its remains are not curr
Turret 18A was one of the regularly-spaced stone observation towers built into the fabric of Hadrian's Wall, positioned between Milecastles 18 (East Wallhouses) and 19 (Matfen Piers) in the central-eastern sector of the frontier in Northumberland. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a watch tower site from the Roman period in Britain.
Turret 18A (Wallhouses East) is classified as a Roman watch tower — 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 Milecastle 18 (East Wallhouses) (0.5 km), Turret 18B (Wallhouses West) (0.5 km), Turret 17B (1 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 Turret 18A (Wallhouses East)