Knag Burn Gateway facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Knag Burn Gateway |
|
|---|---|
| Northumberland, England, UK | |
Remains of the Knag Burn Gateway taken from South of the wall facing West towards Housesteads (visible at the top of the hill)
|
|
The remains of the gateway
|
|
 Knag Burn Gateway
Location in Northumberland
|
|
| Coordinates | 55°00′53″N 2°19′43″W / 55.01466°N 2.32865°W |
The Knag Burn Gateway is a special entrance built into Hadrian's Wall. It was added a while after the main wall was finished, probably in the 300s AD. This gateway allowed people to pass through the famous Roman wall.
Where is the Knag Burn Gateway?
The Knag Burn Gateway is found where Hadrian's Wall crosses a small stream called the Knag Burn. It's located just east of Housesteads, which was a large Roman fort. The gateway is between the fort and a smaller watchtower known as Turret 36B. The stream itself flows under the wall through a special tunnel, or culvert, a few meters west of the gateway.
What was the Knag Burn Gateway for?
The Knag Burn Gateway is unique because it's one of the few gates through Hadrian's Wall that wasn't part of a milecastle (a small fort built every Roman mile) or a larger fort. This suggests it had a different purpose.
The remains of the gateway show it had a single lane, meaning only one path for people or carts to go through at a time. On each side of the path, there were small rooms for guards. There was also a gate at each end of the passage. This setup allowed for "two-stage controlled passage." This means people had to pass through one gate, then a small area, and then another gate. This allowed the Romans to control who came and went very carefully.
Experts like Professor I. A. Richmond believe the gateway was built to let people trade goods through the wall. This would have happened sometime in or after the 300s AD.
The gateway was first found in 1855. Later, archaeologists dug it up in 1936 and again in 1988 to learn more about it. The main gateway is about 3.7 meters (12 feet) wide. The two guard rooms on either side are about 4.65 meters (15 feet) long and 3.25 meters (10.5 feet) wide. Their entrances, which faced the gateway, were about 0.95 meters (3 feet) wide.
