Abstract
SOME major problems of the Roman Wall of Hadrian would appear to have been brought to a solution by recent excavations of the Durham University Excavation Committee, of which an account was given on March 11 before the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies by Mr. I. A. Richmond of King's College, Newcastle-on-Tyne, co-director of the investigation with Mr. F. G. Simpson, of the Cumberland Excavation Committee. It is found that the lack of uniformity between the remains in different sectors of the Wall, which has been the main difficulty of the archaeologist, is not due to haphazard work, but arises from deliberate changes in plan as the Wall was in course of erection, as well as to the differences in material available for building. From Newcastle to the Irthing the builders began with a wall of stone 10 ft. thick (afterwards reduced to 7½ ft. to expedite the work), erecting barracks for patrols in large courtyard gateways piercing the Wall at every mile, and hence called 'milecastles'. "Over the north gate of each and at every 540 yards was a turret. This section of the Wall was then extended eastward to Wallsend ; and a narrow stone wall built to the westward between milecastles 49 and 53 ; but in the main westward extension from the Irthing to Bowness-on-Solway, limestone for grout was lacking, and a turf wall took the place of the stone wall. It was supplied with stone turrets of distinctive type and milecastles of wood. This turf wall was replaced by a stone wall later in the century.
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Hadrian's Wall. Nature 141, 505–506 (1938). https://doi.org/10.1038/141505c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/141505c0