Milecastle 64 facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Milecastle 64 |
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 Location in Cumbria
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| Type | Milecastle |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 54°55′12″N 2°54′36″W / 54.919989°N 2.909922°W |
| County | Cumbria |
| Country | England |
Milecastle 64 (Drawdykes) was a small fort, called a milecastle, that was part of Hadrian's Wall in ancient Roman times. It was like a mini-fortress built by the Romans to help guard their border.
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What is Milecastle 64?
Milecastle 64, also known as Drawdykes, was located in a place called Brunstock Beck. Today, it's about 100 meters west of Brunstock Beck, on land that used to be an army camp. The M6 motorway passes very close by to the east. Sadly, you can't see any parts of this milecastle above ground anymore. It's all hidden beneath the surface.
Digging Up the Past: Discoveries at Milecastle 64
Archaeologists, who are like history detectives, found and dug up Milecastle 64 in 1962. They discovered it was a "short axis" milecastle. This means it was wider than it was long. Inside, it measured about 17.8 meters (about 58 feet) by 14.6 meters (about 48 feet).
The walls of the milecastle had lost most of their stones over time. This often happens when people in later periods take stones from old buildings to use for new ones. The main gate on the north side was 3 meters (about 10 feet) wide, but it had been blocked up at some point, meaning it was no longer used as an entrance. A cobbled road, about 5 meters (about 16 feet) wide, ran right through the middle of the milecastle.
The Roman Milestone
During the 1962 excavations, a piece of a Roman milestone was found on the west side of the milecastle. Milestones were stone markers placed along Roman roads to show distances. This piece had the letters "MP" carved into it. "MP" stands for Mille Passus, which means "a thousand paces" in Latin, or one Roman mile. This milestone is now kept safe in the Carlisle Museum.
Associated Turrets
Every milecastle along Hadrian's Wall had two smaller watchtowers, called turrets, connected to it. These turrets were usually 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 linked to Milecastle 64 are known as Turret 64A and Turret 64B. Before 1961, many turrets along Hadrian's Wall, especially between Milecastles 59 and 72, had not been found or identified. Because of this, the exact locations of Turret 64A and Turret 64B are still unknown today.
