Wall Mile 61

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 61 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 61:

• Milecastle 61 (Wallhead) 
• Turret 61A - exact location unknown
• Turret 61B - exact location unknown

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.

The exact location of milecastle 61 has not yet been confirmed. On the basis of the usual spacing it is expected to be located near Wallhead. A geophysical survey in 1981 located the probable remains of the milecastle.

The locations of milecastle 62 and turrets 61a and 61b have not yet been confirmed. On the basis of the usual spacing milecastle 62 is expected to be situated approximately 300m east of Walby Grange. Turrets 61a and 61b are expected to be situated at the usual distances between milecastles 61 and 62.

The course of the Roman road known as the Military Way, which ran along the corridor linking turrets, milecastles and forts, has been identified for a short distance to the east of Wallhead. There are no remains visible on the surface except for a short section of a turf covered mound, 4m-5m wide and up to 0.4m high. Its course was confirmed during excavation in 1894 by Haverfield. The road consisted of a gravel layer laid over larger stones with a stone kerb and central spine. Its survival here was confirmed by geophysical survey in 1981. However, the unusual survival of this section suggests the possibility that it was reused in the medieval period serving as access to Bleatarn Quarry. 

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.