Turret 23A was one of the regularly-spaced stone watch towers built into the curtain of Hadrian's Wall, positioned between Milecastle 23 (Stanley) and Milecastle 24 (Wall Fell) in the central sector east of the North Tyne. Like its counterparts, it would have been constructed in the 120s AD as part of Hadrian's frontier scheme and garrisoned, probably by detachments drawn from the auxiliary units of the nearby forts (here most likely from Halton Chesters or Chesters), with occupation likely continuing intermittently into the later 2nd century before abandonment.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The turret formed part of the integrated surveillance and signalling system along the Wall, providing observation over the approaches from the north and lateral visual communication with neighbouring turrets and milecastles. Its position in Stanley Plantation lies in a relatively low-lying stretch east of the dramatic Whin Sill crags, where close-spaced towers were necessary to maintain sightlines across gentler terrain.
Very little is published on Turret 23A specifically; it has not been the subject of major modern excavation, and its remains lie buried beneath plantation woodland with no visible upstanding masonry. Comparable turrets in this sector (e.g. 25B Hill House, 26B Brunton) typically show a small rectangular stone tower c. 4 m
Turret 23A was one of the regularly-spaced stone watch towers built into the curtain of Hadrian's Wall, positioned between Milecastle 23 (Stanley) and Milecastle 24 (Wall Fell) in the central sector east of the North Tyne. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a watch tower site from the Roman period in Britain.
Turret 23A (Stanley Plantation) 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 23 (Stanley) (0.5 km), Turret 23B (Wall Fell) (0.5 km), Milecastle 24 (Wall Fell) (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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