Milecastle 16 (Harlow Hill) 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 ...

. The milecastle is located at Harlow Hill,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

. There are no visible surface remains of the milecastle or either of its associated turrets.

Construction

No details are known about the type of construction of this milecastle. Milecastle 16 is visible on the ground as a slight platform in a field adjacent to the south of the B6318 Military Road. The platform measures 23 m from north to south and there are no other surface remains. The site lies on the crest of Harlow Hill and when established would have had a clear line of sight in all directions. The stretch of Hadrian's Wall in this area was removed during the construction of the Military Road.

Excavations and investigations

*1732 – John Horsley viewed the remains of the foundations of the milecastle. *1920s – Excavations failed to discover the milecastle. *1930 – The milecastle's estimated position was recalculated. *1950s – The milecastle was excavated by Hepple and Richmond.

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 16 are known as Turret 16A and Turret 16B.

Turret 16A

Turret 16A is said to have been located by Thomas Hepple in 1930 but he made no mention of it in his fieldwork notebook. The presumed site of the turret lies beneath the 18th century B6318 Military Road and by 1966 there were no surface visible remains. Location:

Turret 16B

Turret 16B was also said to have been located by Hepple in 1930 but if he did find the turret he did not document it in his notebook. The presumed site lies beneath the Military Road adjacent to the Great Northern Reservoir (of the

Whittle Dene Whittle may refer to: Crafts *Whittling, the carving of wood with a knife People * Whittle (name), a surname, and a list of people with the name Places * Whittle, Kentucky * Whittle, Derbyshire, a hamlet near Glossop Glossop is a market town ...

reservoir complex). Like Turret 16A no surface remains could be seen by 1966. Location:

Monument records

References

External links

{{Milecastles 16 Stamfordham