Milecastle 16

Milecastle 16
Northumberland, England, UK
The site of Milecastle 16
Milecastle 16 Location in Northumberland
Coordinates	55°00′33″N 1°52′47″W / 55.009200°N 1.879730°W / 55.009200; -1.879730
Grid reference	NZ07796830

Part of a series on the
Military of ancient Rome 753 BC – AD 476
Structural history Army Unit types and ranks Decorations and punishments Legions Auxilia Generals Navy Fleets Admirals
Campaign history Wars and battles
Technological history Military engineering Castra Siege engines Triumphal arches Roads
Political history
Strategy and tactics Infantry tactics
Frontiers and fortifications Limes Walls Limes Britannicus Antonine Wall Hadrian's Wall Saxon Shore Limes Germanicus Alb Limes Lauter Valley Limes Lower Germanic Limes Main Limes Neckar-Odenwald Limes Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes Wetterau Limes Danube–Iller–Rhine Limes Norican Limes Claustra Alpium Iuliarum Pannonian Limes Limes Alutanus Limes Moesiae Trajan's Wall Anastasian Wall Limes Sarmatiae Limes Arabicus Limes Tripolitanus Limes Mauretaniae
Ancient Rome portal
v t e

Milecastle 16 (Harlow Hill) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. The milecastle is located at Harlow Hill, Northumberland, England. There are no visible surface remains of the milecastle or either of its associated turrets.

No details are known about the type of construction of this milecastle. Milecastle 16 is visible on the ground as a slight platform in a field adjacent to the south of the B6318 Military Road.^[1][2] The platform measures 23 m from north to south and there are no other surface remains.^[1] The site lies on the crest of Harlow Hill and when established would have had a clear line of sight in all directions.^[2] The stretch of Hadrian's Wall in this area was removed during the construction of the Military Road.^[3]

• 1732 – John Horsley viewed the remains of the foundations of the milecastle.^[1]
• 1920s – Excavations failed to discover the milecastle.^[1]
• 1930 – The milecastle's estimated position was recalculated.^[1]
• 1950s – The milecastle was excavated by Hepple and Richmond.^[2]

Each milecastle on Hadrian's Wall had two associated turret structures. These turrets were positioned approximately one-third and two-thirds of a Roman mile to the west of the Milecastle, and would probably have been manned by part of the milecastle's garrison. The turrets associated with Milecastle 16 are known as Turret 16A and Turret 16B.

Turret 16A is said to have been located by Thomas Hepple in 1930 but he made no mention of it in his fieldwork notebook.^[4] The presumed site of the turret lies beneath the 18th century B6318 Military Road and by 1966 there were no surface visible remains.^[4]

Location: 55°00′33″N 1°53′15″W / 55.009118°N 1.887548°W / 55.009118; -1.887548 (Turret 16A)

Turret 16B was also said to have been located by Hepple in 1930 but if he did find the turret he did not document it in his notebook.^[5] The presumed site lies beneath the Military Road adjacent to the Great Northern Reservoir (of the Whittle Dene reservoir complex).^[5] Like Turret 16A no surface remains could be seen by 1966.^[5]

Location: 55°00′32″N 1°53′43″W / 55.008855°N 1.895210°W / 55.008855; -1.895210 (Turret 16B)

Media related to Milecastle 16 at Wikimedia Commons