Milefortlet 15 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 Br ...

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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

Cumbrian Coast defences. These milefortlets and intervening stone watchtowers extended from the western end of

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

, along the

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...

n coast and were linked by a wooden palisade. They were contemporary with defensive structures on

. The site of Milefortlet 15 has been probably been destroyed by coastal erosion. A 3rd-century Roman cemetery, associated with a nearby fort at

Beckfoot Beckfoot is a hamlet in the civil parish of Holme St Cuthbert in Cumbria, England. It is located on the B5300 coast road, three miles south of Silloth-on-Solway and two miles north of the village of Mawbray. The county town of Carlisle is ...

, was located in the area of the milefortlet.

Description

Milefortlet 15 was situated on the cliff between the villages of

and

Mawbray Mawbray is a village in the civil parish of Holme St Cuthbert in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Cumberland. It is located on the Solway Plain, south west of Silloth, north of Maryport, and west of Carlisl ...

, in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Holme St Cuthbert Holme St Cuthbert is a small village and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The village is located south-west of Carlisle. The parish covers a largely rural area containing a number of sm ...

. It was located 350 metres south-west of

Bibra Roman Fort Bibra may refer to: Organisations * British Industrial Biological Research Association, now known as BIBRA in the UK Places * Bibra, Schmalkalden-Meiningen, a village in the district Schmalkalden-Meiningen, Thuringia, Germany * Bibra, Saale-H ...

at Beckfoot. The site of Milefortlet 15 is believed to have been destroyed by

coastal erosion Coastal erosion is the loss or displacement of land, or the long-term removal of sediment and rocks along the coastline due to the action of Wind wave, waves, Ocean current, currents, tides, wind-driven water, waterborne ice, or other impacts ...

. An eastern rampart was identified and excavated in 1954 with no results, and the site had fully eroded by 1980.

Roman cemetery

A Roman

cremation Cremation is a method of Disposal of human corpses, final disposition of a corpse through Combustion, burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and ...

cemetery was located next to Milefortlet 15, and was associated with

and its surrounding

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

. Finds associated with the cemetery include

Samian ware Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface slips made in specific areas ...

pottery and a bronze disc brooch. An excavation was conducted in 2006 in which eight cremation burials were recorded, which were dated from pottery finds to the 3rd-century.

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 length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

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 15 are known as Tower 15A () and Tower 15B (). The site of Tower 15A is located on the summit of a high

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

about 75 metres from the sea. Excavations were conducted in 1954 which revealed the eastern wall of a 6-metre square building. Fragments of pottery and other occupation debris were found. The site of Tower 15B has not been found, and the area is covered in high dunes.

References

External links

* {{Milecastles Milecastles of Hadrian's Wall Roman sites in Cumbria Holme St Cuthbert