Turret 38A, known as Milking Gap, is one of the regularly spaced stone watch towers built along Hadrian's Wall in the AD 122–130s under Hadrian's frontier scheme, positioned between Milecastles 38 (Hotbank) and 39 (Castle Nick) on the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment east of Crag Lough. Like other turrets in this central sector, it would have been a small two-storey tower (c. 4.3m square internally) bonded into the curtain wall, manned by a small detachment from the nearest auxiliary garrison, probably from Housesteads or Vindolanda.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its function was observation and signalling along the most rugged stretch of the Wall, where the line follows the basalt crags overlooking the boggy ground to the north — terrain that made the turret's elevated sightlines more important than physical interdiction. Turrets in this sector appear to have been decommissioned relatively early, with many abandoned and demolished in the later 2nd century once the frontier system was rationalised.
Very little is published specifically on Turret 38A itself; its position is inferred largely from the regular spacing of the turret system rather than from substantial excavation, and no upstanding remains are visible on the ground today. The nearby Milking Gap area is better known for the small native settlement excavated in 1937 just south of the Wall, which is a separate site from the turret.
Turret 38A, known as Milking Gap, is one of the regularly spaced stone watch towers built along Hadrian's Wall in the AD 122–130s under Hadrian's frontier scheme, positioned between Milecastles 38 (Hotbank) and 39 (Castle Nick) on the dramatic Whin Sill escarpment east of Crag Lough. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a watch tower site from the Roman period in Britain.
Turret 38A (Milking Gap) 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 38 (Hotbank) (0.5 km), Turret 38B (Highshield Crag) (0.5 km), Milecastle 39 (Castle Nick) (0.8 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Turret 38A (Milking Gap)