Milecastle 2 facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Milecastle 2
Tyne and Wear, England, UK
Milecastle 2 probably lies under the A187 road
Milecastle 2 Location in Tyne and Wear
Coordinates	54°58′44″N 1°34′10″W / 54.978979°N 1.569447°W / 54.978979; -1.569447

Milecastle 2 (Walker) was a small fort built by the Romans as part of Hadrian's Wall. Hadrian's Wall was a huge stone wall that stretched across northern England. It was built to protect the Roman Empire from tribes to the north. Today, you can't see Milecastle 2. Modern buildings have been built over where it once stood. It's thought to be located near where the A187 Fossway road meets Tunstall Avenue in Wallsend.

Building Milecastle 2

Milecastle 2 was a "short-axis" milecastle. This means it was wider than it was long. Experts believe that soldiers from the Legio II Augusta, a Roman army group, built these types of milecastles. This legion was based in a place called Isca Augusta, which is now Caerleon in Wales.

Exploring the Site

People have tried to find and study Milecastle 2 for a long time. Here's what they found:

• 1732 - John Horsley, an early archaeologist, looked at the milecastle. He wrote down what he could see and where it was located.

• 1848 - Collingwood Bruce, another expert, studied Hadrian's Wall. He found that the site of Milecastle 2 was covered by a brick kiln, which is a type of oven used to make bricks.

• 1852-4 - Henry MacLauchlan surveyed the area. He said that there were "faint traces" of the milecastle still visible in the ploughed ground. He also noted it was a short-axis milecastle.

• 1928 - FG Simpson tried to find the site again. Even though the brick kiln was gone, he only found Roman "occupation earth" and other old bits. This means people lived there a long time ago. He measured the distance from Milecastle 2 to Milecastle 1 and Milecastle 3. Both were about 1,453 yards (1,329 meters) away.

Nearby Turrets

Every milecastle along Hadrian's Wall had two smaller buildings called turrets. These turrets were like guard towers. They were placed about one-third and two-thirds of a Roman mile to the west of each milecastle. Soldiers from the milecastle would have guarded these turrets. The turrets linked to Milecastle 2 are called Turret 2A and Turret 2B.

Turret 2A

No remains of Turret 2A have been found yet. Two possible locations have been suggested by experts. One idea came from Eric Birley in 1961. His idea was based on where Horsley thought Milecastle 2 and Milecastle 3 were. Another idea came from Grace Simpson in 1978. Her idea was based on MacLauchlan's notes about the milecastles. Both suggested locations are very close to each other.

Turret 2B

Like Turret 2A, no remains of Turret 2B have been found. Again, two possible locations have been suggested. Eric Birley suggested one in 1961, based on Horsley's work. Grace Simpson suggested another in 1978, based on MacLauchlan's work.

See also

In Spanish: Castillo miliar 2 para niños