Wolsty North, identified as Tower 13a, formed part of the system of milefortlets and stone towers extending the Hadrianic frontier down the Cumbrian coast south-west of Bowness-on-Solway. Constructed in the early 2nd century AD under Hadrian, it functioned as a small observation post manned by a handful of auxiliary soldiers, working in tandem with paired towers and milefortlets at roughly Roman-mile intervals to monitor the Solway Firth shoreline.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The tower contributed to the western extension of Hadrian's Wall surveillance system, controlling movement across the Solway estuary and guarding against incursions from south-west Scotland by sea. Sites like Wolsty demonstrate that the frontier was conceived as a depth defence rather than a simple linear wall.
The site is poorly preserved and known mainly through aerial reconnaissance and limited fieldwork; comparable excavated towers in the sequence (e.g. Tower 12b and 16b) reveal small square stone structures around 6m across, typically with evidence of timber upper storeys, hearths and occupation debris suggesting short-lived Hadrianic-Antonine use.
Wolsty North, identified as Tower 13a, formed part of the system of milefortlets and stone towers extending the Hadrianic frontier down the Cumbrian coast south-west of Bowness-on-Solway. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a site site from the Roman period in Britain.
Wolsty North tower 13a, 500m south west of Wolsty Farm, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast is classified as a Roman site — a civilian 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 Wolsty South tower 13b, 200m WNW of New House, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast (0.5 km), Prehistoric enclosure and hut circle, a Romano-British enclosure, and a Romano-British farmstead and associated field system north of Wolsty Hall (0.9 km), Silloth Golf Course tower 12b, 410m north west of Heatherbank, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast (1 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 Wolsty North tower 13a, 500m south west of Wolsty Farm, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast