Turret 23B was a small stone watch tower on Hadrian's Wall, situated between Milecastles 23 (Stanley) and 24 (Wall Fell), in the central sector of the Wall east of the North Tyne. Like other turrets along the curtain, it was built in the AD 120s as part of Hadrian's frontier system and would have functioned as a two-storey observation and signalling post manned by a small detachment (perhaps four to eight men) drawn from the auxiliary garrison of the nearest fort, probably Chesters (Cilurnum). Turrets in this sector were largely abandoned or demolished in the later 2nd or early 3rd century, as was the pattern Wall-wide.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one in the regular chain of turrets spaced at one-third Roman mile intervals, 23B contributed to the surveillance, signalling, and controlled movement that defined the Wall's operation; it has no individual historical notability beyond its place in this system.
Very little is published specifically about Turret 23B; its position is inferred largely from the regular Wall spacing rather than from significant standing remains or modern excavation, and the site lies in a stretch where the curtain and turrets are poorly preserved compared to the central crags sector further west. No distinctive finds assemblage is recorded for this turret in the published literature known to me.
Turret 23B was a small stone watch tower on Hadrian's Wall, situated between Milecastles 23 (Stanley) and 24 (Wall Fell), in the central sector of the Wall 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 23B (Wall Fell) 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 24 (Wall Fell) (0.5 km), Turret 23A (Stanley Plantation) (0.5 km), Turret 24A (Green Field) (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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