Turret 56B, known as Cambeck (or Cambeckhill), was one of the standard interval watchtowers on Hadrian's Wall, positioned between Milecastles 56 (Castle Hill, Boothby) and 57 (Cambeckhill) in the western sector approaching the River Irthing. Like other Wall turrets, it was constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and would have been garrisoned by detachments from the auxiliary units based at nearby forts (most likely Castlesteads/Camboglanna, c. 2 km to the south-west). It probably remained in use intermittently through the 2nd century, with most turrets in this sector abandoned by the later 2nd or early 3rd century when the system was rationalised.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
As one in the regular sequence of turrets spaced roughly one-third of a Roman mile apart, it served primarily for surveillance, signalling, and controlling local movement across the frontier in the rolling country east of the Cam Beck. Its location places it within the operational zone of Castlesteads fort, contributing to the dense frontier surveillance network in this stretch.
Little has been published specifically on Turret 56B; it has not been the subject of significant modern excavation, and its remains are not visible above ground, the Wall in this sector having been heavily robbed for stone in the post-Roman and medieval periods. Its existence and approximate position are infer
Turret 56B, known as Cambeck (or Cambeckhill), was one of the standard interval watchtowers on Hadrian's Wall, positioned between Milecastles 56 (Castle Hill, Boothby) and 57 (Cambeckhill) in the western sector approaching the River Irthing. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a watch tower site from the Roman period in Britain.
Turret 56B (Cambeck) 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 The Roman bath house to the north east of Castlesteads Roman fort in wall mile 56 (0.3 km), *Camboglanna (0.4 km), Milecastle 57 (Cambeckhill) (0.5 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 56B (Cambeck)