Milefortlet 25 was a
Milefortlet
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 ...
Cumbrian Coast defences. These milefortlets and intervening stone watchtowers extended from the western end of
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 ...
, along the
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
n coast and were linked by a wooden palisade. They were contemporary with defensive structures on
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 ...
. Milefortlet 25 is the southernmost known of the fortlets of the Cumberland coast, but there is nothing to see on the ground, as Milefortlet 25 lies in an industrial area of
Maryport
Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland.
The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield.
Locatio ...
.
Description
Milefortlet 25 is in the southern part of the town of
Maryport
Maryport is a town and civil parish in the Allerdale borough of Cumbria, England, historically in Cumberland.
The town is situated just outside the Lake District National Park, at the northern end of the former Cumberland Coalfield.
Locatio ...
near a modern industrial zone.
There are no visible remains and the area is built upon. The fortlet is about 2 kilometers southwest of the Roman fort of
Alauna.
At one time this fortlet was known as Milefortlet 26, on the assumption that there had been a dislocation of the pattern of fortlets and towers due to the presence of the Alauna fort. Archaeologist
Richard Bellhouse proposed that Towers 23B and 24A were the same as two of the fort's angle-towers. This meant that he suppressed Milefortlet 24 and numbered the two fortlets south of Alauna as Milefortlets 25 and 26. Archaeologists no longer accept this break in the sequence, and this final fortlet is now known as Milefortlet 25.
Associated Towers
Each milefortlet had two associated towers, similar in construction to the turrets built along Hadrian's Wall. These towers 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 Milefortlet, and would probably have been manned by part of the nearest Milefortlet's garrison. The towers associated with Milefortlet 25 are known as Tower 25A () and Tower 25B ().
Tower 25A is situated near the cliff edge at the summit of Rise How Bank. It was excavated in 1969 and again in 1981/82 by Richard Bellhouse.
It was his predicted position for Milefortlet 26, but the excavations showed that the structure was a tower (Tower 26A in Bellhouse's system).
The tower was 6 metres square with stone walls nearly 1 metre wide.
The buried remains included a pre-Roman burial mound, and an
early-medieval grain drying kiln constructed within the abandoned tower.
The foundations of Tower 25B were discovered in 1880 during the building of a coke oven. The building measured 4 metres square (internally), with walls around 1 metre wide.
There was a clay covered cobbled floor, on which pottery fragments were found.
The site now lies beneath a reclaimed coal tip which is grassed over.
The tower is the final one known in the Cumbrian frontier system.
References
External links
*
{{Milecastles
Milecastles of Hadrian's Wall
Roman sites in Cumbria
Maryport