Wall Mile 53

Hadrian's Wall stretches from the east to west coast of England and was an important frontier of the Roman Empire. Building of the wall began in AD 122 and took six years to complete it’s 84 mile (80 Roman mile) length. Soldiers were garrisoned along the line of the wall in large forts, smaller milecastles, and intervening turrets. The Vallum, a large ditch with mounds on either side, ran along the south side of the wall, protecting the rear of the frontier. Hadrian's Wall was designated as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

Wall mile 53 was originally a turf wall, later replaced by stone. From Milecastle 49 to the western end of Hadrian's Wall on the Solway Firth, the wall was originally constructed from turf, possibly due to the absence of limestone. Subsequently, the turf wall was demolished and replaced with a stone wall.

Wall Mile 53:

Much of this stretch of Hadrian's Wall was built using red sandstone (Turret 53B was the most easterly structure in the Wall to use red sandstone). Most of the buildings at Lanercost Priory, located about ½ mile south of Hadrian's Wall, were constructed in the 13th century using calciferous and red sandstone taken from the Wall.

There is a significant visible section of Hadrian's Wall at Hare Hill (standing to a height of about 2.7 metres) to the west of the site of Milecastle 53.

• Milecastle 53 (Banks Burn) - there are no visible surface remains; excavations found that much of the stone from the milecastle had been removed for reuse in later buildings.
• Turret 53A (Hare Hill) - only visible as a slight earthwork platform.
• Turret 53B (Craggle Hill) - only visible as a slight earthwork platform.

Scheduled Monument (#): Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Banks Green Cottage and the road to Lanercost at Banks and the road to Garthside in wall miles 52, 53 and 54:

Hadrian's Wall survives as a buried feature throughout most of this section overlain in parts by the modern road, fields given to pasture, gardens and field walls. A few remains are visible above ground including the well preserved section of Wall at Hare Hill. Here the core of the Wall is original but part of the face has been reconstructed. It stands to a maximum height of 3.6m and is 2.3m wide. It is consolidated and in the care of the Secretary of State. West of Burtholme Beck there is a length of mortared wall core which stands 1.7m high. Further west there is a shorter stretch of wall core on the same hedge line, 1.3m high. To the east of turret 54a the Wall survives as a substantial turf covered bank at the base of a mature hedge.

The wall ditch survives intermittently as an earthwork in this section. It is best preserved between Hare Hill and Haytongate where it averages 2m deep throughout. It has a maximum depth of 3.2m in parts. Elsewhere the ditch averages 1.8m where extant, but otherwise lies buried below the turf cover or is visible as a slight depression. The ditch upcast mound, usually referred to as the glacis, survives in places to the north of the ditch as an amorphous low mound. 

Milecastle 53 is situated at the base of an east facing slope on the west bank of the Banks Burn. It survives as a buried feature partly beneath and surrounding the house known as Banks Burn with no remains visible above ground. Excavation by Simpson in 1932 found that the milecastle had been much robbed of its masonry and the original floor had been removed so that no internal buildings remained. The north wall abutted Hadrian's Wall and some turf work of the earlier turf milecastle remained in the north east corner. It measured 23.5m north to south by 22.2m. Milecastle 54 is situated on a west facing slope overlooking the Burtholme Beck 230m to the west. It survives as a slight turf covered platform with its remains buried below the surface. Excavations in 1933-4 by Simpson and Richmond showed that the milecastle measured 23.8m north to south by 19.85m across. The western barrack block comprised two rooms, one fitted with stone benches, a hearth and millstone. Below the stone milecastle were found remains of the earlier turf milecastle built in beaten clay.

Turret 53a is situated almost on the crest of Craggle Hill with wide views in all directions. It survives as a slight platform, 0.15m high, at the edge of the field. Its remains are buried below the turf cover with nothing visible above ground. First located in 1854-5, it was later partly excavated by Simpson in 1932. It measures 4.46m in length internally being rectilinear in plan. Unusually this turret projects 1m north of the Wall. On excavation the interior was found to be full of ashes.

Turret 53b is situated on a west facing slope about 200m east of Haytongate. It survives as a slight turf covered platform on the Wall line, 0.1m high. It was located and excavated in 1932 by Simpson who found it was built from red sandstone. Turret 54a is situated on an east facing slope overlooking Burtholme Beck to the east. It survives as a buried feature below the turf cover with no remains visible above ground. It was located and excavated in 1933 by Simpson who found that there were two independent turrets one behind the other. The excavations showed that the earlier Turf Wall turret had partly collapsed into the wall ditch, and so the decision had been taken to construct a new free- standing turret, also of Turf Wall type, immediately to the south. The Turf Wall and its ditch were reconstructed slightly to the north of the former line. Later, when the Turf Wall was replaced in stone, the new Stone Wall was connected to the second turret, thus leaving a short length where the lines of the Turf and Stone walls diverge.

The exact course of the Roman road known as the Military Way, which ran along the corridor between the Wall and vallum linking turrets, milecastles and forts, is not yet confirmed in this section. The only traces visible on the ground are two stretches of a low slight swelling, one west of milecastle 54 and the other about 200m east of turret 53b. Elsewhere it survives as a buried feature with no remains visible above ground.

The vallum survives as an earthwork visible on the ground throughout most of this section. The ditch averages between 1.6m and 2m deep where extant. Elsewhere it is silted up and is overlain by the turf cover. The north mound averages between 0.3m and 0.9m high and the south mound 0.3m and 1.3m high. The vallum was trenched in two places on Hare Hill, first in 1894 and again in 1903 by Haverfield. The north and south mounds were found together with the marginal mounds. The supposed Roman camp shown to the immediate south of the vallum in Abbey Park Wood is no longer identified as Roman.