Roman Forts, Milecastles, and Turrets of Hadrian's Wall

On my walking tour of Hadrian's wall, I will be seeing lots of Forts, Milecastles, and turrets as well as portions of the wall itself.

 Roman forts, or castra, were standard. They were designed so that a Legion of soldiers or cavalry (although all even soldier legions had some cavalry) could stop after a march and build an earthworks defense before nightfall, then break it down the next day. Existing forts, if wanting to make permanent, could and wood then stone walls made and stone structures built. That was a soldier, citizen, or official always knew were to go in any fort in the empire. They contain the headquarters (in the center 2), commanders house (right 3), granaries (left 1), stables or workshops (lower and upper 5), and soldier's barracks (upper and lower 4). Latrines (6) and ovens (7) were throughout the inner walls. Legions were anywhere from 300 men to 5200 men. Forts were built about every five miles along the wall.

 Milecastles and turrets were placed along the wall. Turrets and milecastles could be made of wood or stone. Milecastles were placed one Roman mile apart from one another, or 1000 paces, which varied in accurate distances today but is around 1.5 kilometers. There are 80 of them along Hadian's wall and held 20 to 30 soldiers. The 158 turrets were placed between the milecastles and had four soldiers assigned. The milecastles could communicate between them by whistles and fire.
 

The wall itself in in various states along its length. From nonexistent, to intact, to recreated it is impressive feat of organization and engineering that ran 73 miles across Northern Britain. In this section it widens from the two meters wide from the West of to three meters wide till the river Irthing, where it becomes an earth wall.

As part of the construction, earthen walls and ditches (vallum) were built providing layered defense. In between a military roadway would be constructed providing fast movement of supplies and reinforcements.

Excellent sites for Hadrian's Wall are the National Trails site, English Heritage, Hadrian's Wall Country, and this site for North Of The Tyne.

With these explanations out of the way, enjoy my posts on Hadrian's wall!