Milecastle 12 (Heddon) was a

milecastle A milecastle was a small fort (fortlet), a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall in Great Bri ...

of the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...

. Its remains lay under Town Farm,

Heddon-on-the-Wall Heddon-on-the-Wall is a village in Northumberland, England, located on Hadrian's Wall. Heddon-on-the-Wall is roughly west of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, and just outside Throckley. The place-name 'Heddon' means 'hill where heather grew'. ...

, (just opposite the farm house) with nothing visible on the surface.

Construction

Milecastle 12 is of unknown

axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...

and gateway types.

Excavations and investigations

*circa 1746 - During construction of the

Military Road {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The following is a list of military roads worldwide. Australia * Part of the A8 (Sydney) between Neutral Bay and Mosman * Military Road, part of Route 39, Melbourne * Military Road, off Wanneroo Road just north ...

, two inscriptions were discovered (presumed to be from the Heddon-on-the-Wall area). These attest rebuilding work by the

Legio VI Victrix Legio VI Victrix ("Victorious Sixth Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army founded in 41 BC by the general Octavian (who, as Augustus, later became Rome's first emperor). It was the twin legion of VI ''Ferrata'' and perhaps held vete ...

. One reads "LEG·VI·V·P·F·REF·TER·ET·SAC·COS", referring to

Tertullus In the Bible, Tertullus (a modification of "Tertius") was a lawyer, who was employed by the Jews to state their case against Paul in the presence of Felix (Acts 24:1-9). The charges he raised against the apostle were "First, that he created dis ...

and Sacerdos (

Consuls A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

for 158AD). *1752 – A large hoard of coins in wooden boxes is found here. *1820 – A small hoard of coins is found near here. These comprise coins from Emperor

Maximian Maximian ( la, Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus; c. 250 – c. July 310), nicknamed ''Herculius'', was Roman emperor from 286 to 305. He was ''Caesar'' from 285 to 286, then ''Augustus'' from 286 to 305. He shared the latter title with his ...

(286 – 305 AD) to Emperor

Arcadius Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ea ...

(383 – 408 AD). *1926 – The north gate is recorded as having been found. *1928–29 – A further search is made, without success. *1966 –

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

Field Investigation. It was noted that there were no surface indications from which the site could be established, and the area was largely covered by modern farm buildings. *1989 –

Field Investigation. It was noted that there was no surface trace of the milecastle, though its exact position is unknown.

Associated turrets

Each milecastle on Hadrian's Wall had two associated turret structures. These turrets were positioned approximately one-third and two-thirds of a

Roman mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 Engli ...

to the west of the Milecastle, and would probably have been manned by part of the milecastle's garrison. The turrets associated with Milecastle 12 are known as Turret 12A and Turret 12B.

Turret 12A

Turret 12A (Heddon West) is located beside (and mainly beneath) the B6318

a short distance West North West of Heddon-on-the-Wall. No surface traces are currently visible. The turret was located in 1928 as west of Milecastle 12. This location was confirmed by a partial excavation in 1930. It was found that the walls were reduced to ground level beyond the edge of the roadway, but had the same plan as Turret 12B. However, the platform (which occupied the South side of the interior of Turrets 12B and 13A), was too badly robbed for any trace to remain. The mortared walls were recorded as thick, with the doorway lying to the east.
Location on

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1:25 000 map:

Turret 12B

Turret 12B (North Lodge) is located beside the Military Road (at a point where the B6318 is diverted away from it, but it still exists as a narrow metaled track). It was located in 1928, 543 yards from Turret 12a and 529 yards from

Milecastle 13 Milecastle 13 (Rudchester Burn) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. Its remains exist as a low platform south of the B6318 Military Road. Construction Milecastle 13 was a short-axis milecastle and the north gateway has been identi ...

. It was excavated in 1930, and found to be almost identical in plan to Turret 12A. The platform was rectangular and occupied the south side of the interior.
Location on

1:25 000 map:

Monument records

References

Bibliography

External links

Hadrian's Wall: visiting information English Heritage Hadrian's Wall: Archaeological research 1976–2000 English Heritage
{{Milecastles 12