Wall Mile 60

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 60 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 60:

• Turret 60B - exact location unknown
• Milecastle 60 (High Strand) 
• Turret 60B - exact location unknown

Scheduled Monument (#1010989): Hadrian's Wall between the road to Laversdale at Oldwall and Baron's Dike in wall miles 59 and 60

The Wall survives as a buried feature throughout this section with no upstanding remains visible above ground, apart from a low scarp 0.2m high in the area to the north of Bleatarn. Its course has been confirmed in places by excavation by Haverfield in 1894. North of Bleatarn an excavation across the Wall line uncovered the core of the Wall and much red sandstone debris from it. 

The wall ditch survives as an earthwork visible on the ground throughout this section, between 1m and 1.6m deep with a modern drain occupying its base for most of its course. The ditch upcast mound, usually referred to as the glacis, does not survive as a feature visible on the ground in this section.

The exact location of milecastle 60 has not yet been confirmed. There are no features visible above ground. On the basis of the usual spacing it is expected to be located about 450m north east of Bleatarn Farm on the line of the Wall.

The exact locations of turrets 59b, 60a and 60b have not yet been confirmed. There are no upstanding remains visible above ground.

The 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, has not been confirmed in this section.

Scheduled Monument (#1010990): The vallum between the road to Laversdale at Oldwall and Baron's Dike in wall miles 59 and 60

The vallum survives as a buried feature throughout most of this section. Its course is recognisable on the ground as slight depressions in fields and as distinct depressions in hedgelines which cross its course in the eastern half of this section. East of Baron's Dike the vallum survives as a slight earthwork visible as four parallel flat topped mounds, 0.7m high. Excavations at Bleatarn by Haverfield in 1894-5 recovered remains of the vallum. This area is now partly built over. Archaeological remains have not been confirmed to survive below the modern buildings.... Elsewhere there are no surface traces of the vallum. The excavations at Bleatarn suggested the existence of quarries here, possibly of Roman date, but the confusing nature of the reports questions the reliability of such an assertion.

Scheduled Monument (#1010979): Hadrian's Wall and vallum between Baron's Dike and Birky Lane at Walby, in wall miles 60, 61 and 62.

Hadrian's Wall survives as a buried feature throughout this section. Its course is depicted on MacLauchlan's survey of the 1850s, but this course has not been confirmed in modern times. The Wall and its ditch were located during an excavation in advance of pipe laying east of Walby. The wall ditch survives as an intermittent earthwork visible on the ground in the east half of this section, which also serves as a reliable guide to the course of the Wall here. Where visible the partly silted ditch averages 0.3m-0.8m deep with a modern drain cut into its base. Elsewhere the ditch is visible as a broad and shallow depression in the fields averaging 0.2m deep, also with a drain cut into its base. Its course has been confirmed in places through geophysical survey in 1981. In this section the ditch upcast mound, usually referred to as the glacis, survives as a feature faintly visible on the ground; elsewhere it survives as a buried feature.

South east of Wallhead the vallum survives as a slight earthwork visible on the ground as four parallel mounds, the most prominent ones being up to 1.2m high. Excavations by Hodgson took place here in 1894-5. Elsewhere the vallum survives as a buried feature with no remains visible on the ground except for a slight depression over the vallum ditch in a field 600m east of Walby Grange. However, the course shown on the Ordnance Survey map has been confirmed throughout this section by geophysical survey carried out in 1981. With the exception of the area to the east and south of Walby where three geophysical transects south of Walby Grange and Walby Croft showed the line of the vallum running about 40m north of the position given on Ordnance Survey maps. An excavation cut about 750m east of Walby Grange at the same time as the survey confirmed that the features picked up on the geophysical survey were those of the vallum.