<< Our Photo Pages >> Hadrian's Wall (Poltross Burn) - Stone Fort or Dun in England in Cumbria
Submitted by Anne T on Thursday, 11 July 2019 Page Views: 1370
Multi-periodSite Name: Hadrian's Wall (Poltross Burn) Alternative Name: Milecastle 48 (Hadrian's Wall); King's Stables (Gilsland)Country: England
NOTE: This site is 0.86 km away from the location you searched for.
County: Cumbria Type: Stone Fort or Dun
Nearest Town: Haltwhistle Nearest Village: Gilslane
Map Ref: NY6340166198
Latitude: 54.989018N Longitude: 2.573503W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Anne T visited on 8th Jul 2019 - their rating: Cond: 3 Amb: 4 Access: 4 Poltross Burn Milecastle: We last visited this site on 27th October 2013, and it hasn’t’ changed at all. Andrew, in typical engineering fashion, went round and talked about the offsets and revetted construction of this small fort. It’s layout is remarkably easy to read.
Andrew recalled reading about a house built right on top of the wall, but we were unable to find it.
English Heritage describe Poltross Burn as "one of the best preserved milecastles on Hadrian's Wall. Poltross Burn Milecastle is unusually large: it contained two barrack blocks, one on either side of a central road. Known locally as the King's Stables, it also includes an oven, a stair to the ramparts walk, and the remains of its north gateway.
Recorded as Pastscape Monument No. 13969, the milecastle sits on top of a steep gorge at the western side of the Poltross Burn (a tributary of the River Irthing). Measuring 21.5m north-south and 18.7m east-west, its walls were built to the broad gauge before "before a change of plan and narrowing of the width, and the wing walls extend 4 metres either side of the milecastle". The site is also scheduled as Historic England List ID 1015923.
The milecastle was excavated in 1886 by R.S. Ferguson and between 1909 and 1911 by F.G. Simpson and J.P.Gibson. Finds indicated a period of occupation from the early days of the reign of Hadrian through to the late fourth century, with "the usual reconstructions of AD 197, 297 and 369". Pastscape adds: "The lower courses of a flight of steps were found in the north east corner, suggesting that the rampart walk stood 3.7 metres above ground with the battlements adding further height. An oven was located in the north west angle. Flanking the central space of the milecastle stood long barrack blocks, which are believed to have had more than one phase of construction. Further excavations were undertaken at the milecastle by D. Charlesworth between 1965 and 1966 .... A short section of Hadrian's Wall abuts the north-east corner of the milecastle".
There is a small car park at NY 63572 66312, with the footpath running directly west along the edge of the vallum, down some steps to Poltross Burn, then up a longer flight of steps up to the milecastle.
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