Milecastle 1 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Milecastle 1
Tyne and Wear, England, UK
A187 road in the vicinity of Milecastle 1
Milecastle 1 Location in Tyne and Wear
Coordinates	54°59′01″N 1°33′02″W / 54.983494°N 1.550492°W / 54.983494; -1.550492

Milecastle 1, also known as Stott's Pow, was a small fort built by the Romans as part of Hadrian's Wall. This famous wall stretched across northern England to protect the Roman Empire. Milecastle 1 was located near a valley called Stott's Pow, which has now disappeared. Today, the remains of this milecastle are hidden beneath a recreation ground in Miller's Dene.

At first, some early digs thought a different Roman structure, Turret 0B, was Milecastle 1 by mistake. This milecastle is found within the area of Wallsend.

Building Milecastle 1

Milecastle 1 was a type of milecastle called a short-axis milecastle. This means it was built with its shorter sides facing the wall. We don't know what kind of gates it had.

Historians believe that the legio II Augusta (Second Augustan Legion) built these short-axis milecastles. This Roman army group was based in a place called Isca Augusta, which is now Caerleon in Wales.

Finding and Studying the Milecastle

People have been looking for and studying Milecastle 1 for a long time. Here are some of the important discoveries:

• 1732 - A person named Horsley wrote about the milecastle. He noted it was a short-axis type and close to Stott's Pow.

• 1848 - Collingwood Bruce, who studied Hadrian's Wall, wrote about the site. He said that even though the land was farmed, you could still see a slightly raised area with small stones. This showed where the milecastle might have been.

• 1852-4 - Henry MacLauchlan mapped the area. He also recorded Milecastle 1 as a short-axis milecastle.

• 1928 - F G Simpson dug at the site. He only found Roman soil and bits of broken pottery. He thought that even the foundations of the milecastle had been taken away by people over time. This is called "robbing" the stone. Simpson also measured the distances between Roman sites.

• 1947 - The area where Milecastle 1 is located was flattened to create a recreation ground. Even then, some parts of the "Wall Ditch" (a trench in front of the wall) and faint signs of the milecastle could still be seen.

• 1975 - English Heritage did a survey. They noted that the site was now part of landscaped gardens around a bowling green. There was no longer any visible sign of the milecastle.

• 1978 - Grace Simpson, who had studied the site earlier, confirmed that the Wall Ditch was completely gone. However, she still thought a very faint trace of the milecastle could be seen.

Nearby Watchtowers (Turrets)

Every milecastle along Hadrian's Wall had two smaller watchtowers, called turrets, linked to it. These turrets were placed about one-third and two-thirds of a Roman mile to the west of the milecastle. Soldiers from the milecastle would likely have guarded these turrets.

The turrets connected to Milecastle 1 are known as Turret 1A and Turret 1B.

Turret 1A

Turret 1A was probably located very close to where the A187 Fossway and Coutts Road meet today. This idea is based on measurements, but no actual proof of the turret has been found.

Location on Ordnance Survey map: 54°58′55″N 1°33′25″W / 54.981990°N 1.557071°W / 54.981990; -1.557071 (Turret 1B)

Turret 1B

Turret 1B was likely just west of the junction of the A187 Fossway and Roman Avenue. F.G. Simpson suggested this spot based on measurements from Milecastle 2, though its exact location is also uncertain. No physical evidence of this turret has been found either.

Location on Ordnance Survey map: 54°58′52″N 1°33′48″W / 54.981069°N 1.563253°W / 54.981069; -1.563253 (Turret 1B)

Official Records

The sites of Milecastle 1 and its turrets have official records to help keep track of them. These records are important for archaeologists and historians.

See also

In Spanish: Castillo miliar 1 para niños