Milecastle 39 (Castle Nick) is 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 ...

on Hadrian's Wall ().

Description

Milecastle 39 is located northeast of

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. The excavated stonework has been consolidated, and the walls are up to 1.75 metres high.MILECASTLE 39
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013 It measures 19 metres by 15.5 metres.

Excavations

The site was cleared in 1854, and was excavated in 1908–11. It was re-excavated between 1982 and 1987. It was found to have a

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, with a Type II gateway. In the south-east corner was a stone oven and the south-west corner a rectangular building with a sunken floor associated with Roman finds. The milecastle appears to have been occupied until the late 4th century. In the 18th century a possible milking house was built in the west corner.

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 39 are known as Turret 39A and Turret 39B.

Turret 39A

Turret 39A (Peel Crag) () was located in 1909 and excavated in 1911.TURRET 39A
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013 It was found to have been abandoned, dismantled and its recess built up at the end of the 2nd century. In the north-west corner was a burial of a man and a woman. The turret is visible as a slight rectangular hollow about 20 centimetres deep.

Turret 39B

Turret 39B (Steelrigg) () was excavated in 1909 and in 1911.TURRET 39B
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013 It was found to have been abandoned, dismantled and its recess built up at the end of the 2nd century. There are no visible remains.

Peel Gap Tower

In summer 1987 excavations along Hadrian's Wall (made jointly by the

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and

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) discovered the foundations of a Roman tower between turrets 39A and 39B. The tower is located west of Turret 39A () in the lowest part of Peel Gap. It appears to have been constructed shortly after the wall had been completed, as evidenced by the lower build quality, and that it was built abutting the wall (rather than recessed into it like other turrets). The foundations are rectangular, measuring (east/west) by (north/south), with walls thick. The doorway (located at the east end of the south wall) was found to have been blocked up. The foundations of a platform were found along the outside of the west wall. It appears to have filled the gap between Turrets 39A and 39B which is the longest known gap between two turrets along the entire length of the wall.PEEL GAP TOWER
Pastscape, retrieved 3 December 2013

Access

The milecastle, the sites of both turrets, and the remains of Peel Gap Tower are all accessible via the Hadrian's Wall Path. The Sycamore Gap Tree stood nearby until it was felled in 2023.

References

External links

* {{coord, 55.003602, N, 2.375725, W, source:placeopedia, display=title 39