Turret 50B (Turf Wall), also known as High House Turret, was one of the regularly spaced observation towers built along the Turf Wall sector of Hadrian's Wall west of the River Irthing, constructed c. AD 122–125 during the initial Hadrianic building programme. Like other Turf Wall turrets it was built of stone from the outset (turrets were always stone even where the curtain was turf), standing roughly 6m square with an interior of approximately 3.7m, and housed a small detachment likely drawn from the garrison of the nearest milecastle or fort.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The turret formed part of the signalling and surveillance system between Milecastles 50 (High House) and 51 (Wall Bourne), providing visual control over the gently undulating ground south of Birdoswald. When the Wall was rebuilt in stone, the turret was retained on a slightly different alignment, illustrating the continuity of the original Hadrianic spacing scheme even after major reconstruction.
Turret 50B was identified and examined during the systematic investigations of the Turf Wall sector in the early-to-mid 20th century (notably work by F.G. Simpson and I.A. Richmond), which confirmed its stone construction within the turf rampart and established its relationship to both the Turf and later Stone Wall alignments. Finds are sparse and poorly published, typical of these small installations, and the site is not prominently visible above ground today.
Turret 50B (Turf Wall), also known as High House Turret, was one of the regularly spaced observation towers built along the Turf Wall sector of Hadrian's Wall west of the River Irthing, constructed c. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a watch tower site from the Roman period in Britain.
Turret 50B (Turf Wall) 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 Turret 50B (Appletree) (0.2 km), Milecastle 51 (Wall Bowers) (0.4 km), Turret 50A (Turf Wall) (0.6 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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