Turret 29B was one of the regularly spaced observation towers built into Hadrian's Wall in the AD 122–128 construction phase, positioned roughly one-third of a Roman mile west of Milecastle 29 (Tower Tye) on the high ground of Limestone Bank, between the North Tyne and the Portgate. Like other turrets on this stretch, it would have been a small stone tower approximately 4–5 m square internally, projecting south from the curtain wall and probably standing two storeys high, garrisoned by a handful of soldiers detached from the nearest auxiliary fort (likely Carrawburgh/Brocolitia or Chesters/Cilurnum).
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its specific value lay in surveillance of the Limestone Bank ridge — a notable exposed section where the Wall and its accompanying Vallum cross hard dolerite, and where the unfinished Vallum ditch famously preserves abandoned upcast stone in situ. The turret formed part of the integrated signalling and patrol chain controlling movement across this elevated frontier zone north of the Stanegate.
Turret 29B has not been the subject of major modern published excavation, and its remains are not visibly upstanding; its existence and approximate position are inferred from the standard turret spacing along the Wall rather than from extensive finds. The surrounding Limestone Bank sector is better known archaeolog
Turret 29B was one of the regularly spaced observation towers built into Hadrian's Wall in the AD 122–128 construction phase, positioned roughly one-third of a Roman mile west of Milecastle 29 (Tower Tye) on the high ground of Limestone Bank, between the North Tyne and the Portgate. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a watch tower site from the Roman period in Britain.
Turret 29B (Limestone Bank) 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 Limestone Corner Roman temporary camp (0.3 km), Milecastle 30 (Limestone Corner) (0.5 km), Turret 29A (Black Carts) (0.5 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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