Turret 59A (Old Wall) is one of the standard intermediate observation posts built into the curtain of Hadrian's Wall, situated between Milecastles 59 (Old Wall) and 60 (High Strand) in the sector west of Bleatarn, Cumbria. Like other turrets on this stretch, it was constructed in the 120s AD under Hadrian and would have been a small stone tower roughly 4–5 metres square internally, projecting slightly from the rear face of the Wall and manned by a small detachment drawn from the auxiliary garrison of a nearby fort, probably Stanwix or Castlesteads.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Its function was signalling, surveillance and traffic control along the Wall in the relatively low-lying ground east of Carlisle, forming part of the regular system of milecastles and paired turrets at third-of-a-mile intervals. Turrets in this western sector were likely abandoned earlier than elsewhere, probably during the later 2nd century reorganisation when many turrets on the Wall were demolished and their recesses walled up.
Very little is published specifically on Turret 59A; it has not been the subject of major modern excavation, and its precise structural details, occupation evidence and date of abandonment remain poorly documented compared with better-known turrets such as 26B (Brunton) or 7B. Its position is known from the standard spacing of the Wall system rather than from substantial visible remains.
Turret 59A (Old Wall) is one of the standard intermediate observation posts built into the curtain of Hadrian's Wall, situated between Milecastles 59 (Old Wall) and 60 (High Strand) in the sector west of Bleatarn, Cumbria. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a watch tower site from the Roman period in Britain.
Turret 59A 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 59 (Old Wall) (0.5 km), Milecastle 60 (High Strand) (0.9 km), Turret 58B (1 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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