This is the Chesters Bridge abutment on the west bank of the North Tyne, opposite the Roman cavalry fort of Cilurnum (Chesters) and immediately east of Milecastle 27 (Hunnum sector). Two successive structures stood here: a Hadrianic bridge (c. AD 122–early 2nd century) carrying the Wall itself across the river on narrow piers, replaced in the early 3rd century (probably under Severus or shortly after) by a much larger road bridge carrying the Military Way, with three massive piers and stone arches.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The bridge was the principal crossing of the North Tyne on Hadrian's Wall, linking Cilurnum's garrison directly to the Wall curtain and to Milecastle 27, and it is the best-preserved Roman bridge abutment in Britain. The scale of the Severan rebuild — engineered for wheeled traffic rather than merely the Wall walkway — reflects the upgrading of lateral communications along the frontier in the 3rd century.
The west abutment was excavated by John Clayton in 1860–63 and has been re-examined since (notably published by Bidwell and Holbrook, 1989), revealing the earlier Hadrianic pier reused within the later abutment, a stone tower, a water-channel (possibly for a mill), phallic and inscribed stones, and large voussoirs and tie-stones with lewis-holes. The masonry,
This is the Chesters Bridge abutment on the west bank of the North Tyne, opposite the Roman cavalry fort of Cilurnum (Chesters) and immediately east of Milecastle 27 (Hunnum sector). It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a bridge site from the Roman period in Britain.
Unnamed Roman bridgehead is classified as a Roman bridge — a infrastructure 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 Baths of Cilurnum (0.1 km), Turret 27A (0.2 km), Milecastle 27 (Low Brunton) (0.3 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 Unnamed Roman bridgehead