Milecastle 3

Coordinates: 54°58′33″N 1°35′20″W / 54.975901°N 1.589009°W

Milecastle 3
Milecastle 3 probably overlooked the Ouseburn ravine
Milecastle 3 Milecastle 3 shown within Tyne and Wear
OS grid reference	NZ26406466
List of places UK England Tyne and Wear

Milecastle 3 (Ouseburn) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. No remains exist, but it was thought to have been located at the junction of the A187 Byker Bridge and Stephen Street.

Construction

No evidence exists as to the configuration or type of Milecastle 3, though the curtain wall at this stage was almost certainly a narrow configuration.^[1]

Excavations and investigations

• 1732 - Horsley surveyed the milecastle, recording its position.^[2]

• 1776 - The location was visited by Stukeley, who sketched the area for his Iter Boreale'.^[3]

• 1789 - Brand visited the site, but noted that many of the stones had been removed from the foundations some years previously, for use in the building of an adjoining house.^[4]

• 1848 - Collingwood Briuce reported that a small, partly illegible altar had been found close to the presumed site of the milecastle. The altar (NMR Number: NZ 26 SE 227) was dedicated by Julius Maximus. Having searched the area, he could find no trace of Roman remains.^[1]
• 1858 - Henry MacLauchlan surveyed the area but reported no dependable trace of the milecastle.^[5]

• 1928 - FG Simpson measured the distance from Milecastle 2 to Milecastle 3 as 1,450 yards (1,330 m).^[5]
• 1979 - Exploratory trenches were sunk during the building of the Metro, revealing no trace of the milecastle.^[5]

Associated Turrets

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 3 are known as Turret 3A and Turret 3B.

Turret 3A

Nothing is known of Turret 3A.^[6]
Presumed location: 54°58′30″N 1°35′46″W / 54.974892°N 1.596128°W

Turret 3B

Nothing is known of Turret 3B.^[7]
Presumed location: 54°58′20″N 1°36′09″W / 54.972217°N 1.602403°W

Monument Records

Monument	Monument Number	English Heritage Archive Number
Milecastle 3	24904	NZ 26 SE 15
Turret 3A	24907	NZ 26 SE 16
Turret 3B	24912	NZ 26 SE 17

References

1. Breeze, David J (1934), Handbook to the Roman Wall (14th Revised edition - Nov 2006), Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, ISBN 0-901082-65-1
2. Horsley, John (1732), Britannia Romana or the Roman Antiquities of Britain, Frank Graham (published 1974), ISBN 0-85983-090-X
3. Stukeley, William (1776). Itinerarium Curiosum: or, An account of the antiquities, and remarkable curiosities in nature or art, observed in travels through Great Britain (2nd ed.). London: Baker & Leigh. ISBN 0-576-19312-7.
4. Brand, John (1 Jan 1789). The History and Antiquities of Newcastle upon Tyne. Vol 1 (1st ed.). B White & Son. p. 138.
5. "Milecastle 3". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
6. "Turret 3A". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 24 May 2010.
7. "Turret 3B". Pastscape. English Heritage. Retrieved 24 May 2010.

Bibliography

• Daniels, Charles (1979), "Review: Fact and Theory on Hadrian's Wall", Britannia 10: 357–364, JSTOR 526069