Wall Mile 72

Hadrian's Wall survives as a buried feature throughout the whole length of this section with no features visible above ground. Excavations by Austen at West End in 1986 and subsequent geophysical survey in 1991, north of Rindle House demonstrated that the wall ditch ran approximately 11m north of the wall, a wider distance than is usual. The excavation across the ditch found the expected V-shaped profile, 10m wide at the top and 2.5m deep in the centre.

The Wall was initially built of turf in the whole of this sector. The 1986 excavations and further excavations in 1989 by Austen at the site of milecastle 72 found that in the eastern part of the monument, from a point 50m east of the lane crossing the Wall at West End, the turf wall was built on a raft of cobbles 6.1m wide, a previously unrecorded method of construction on Hadrian's Wall, whereas the rest of the Turf Wall in this section was found in the same excavations by Austen and at the site of turret 72b in 1948 by Simpson to have been constructed by the better known method of stacking turves directly on the soil.

When the Turf Wall was rebuilt in stone at the east end of this monument, the turf superstructure was entirely removed down to the cobble base, which was used as a foundation for the Stone Wall, whereas elsewhere a small amount of the base material of the Turf Wall remained sealed below the Stone Wall. In the vicinity of turret 72a and at turret 72b, the Stone Wall was placed 1.2m from the front of the Turf Wall, presumably to align with the side doors of the turrets to give access onto the wall-top, whereas at milecastle 72 the north face of the Stone Wall coincided with the northern edge of the base of the Turf Wall. The course of the Wall between Fulwood House and West End is now known as a result of these excavations to run a little to the north of the line depicted by the Ordnance Survey, with a slight change in direction southwards indicated 150m west of Fulwood House.

There is no evidence to suggest that Hadrian's Wall was carried across Burgh Marsh west of Dykefield 

Milecastle 72 was initially located in 1960 by Bartle and its position was confirmed during excavations by Austen in 1989, its north wall (and the line of Hadrian's Wall) being found 13m north of the line depicted by the Ordnance Survey. The east wall of the milecastle was found below the farm access track immediately to the west of Fulwood House.

The milecastle was originally built with turf walls, like the adjoining lengths of Hadrian's Wall on a base of cobbles 6.2m wide. The internal buildings and gateways have not been examined but would have been timber structures. The entire milecastle was replaced in stone, probably in the second half of the second century at the same time as the replacement of the Turf Wall by a stone wall.

The north, east and west stone walls of the milecastle were found in the 1989 excavations to survive as buried features and were constructed using a mixture of red and white sandstones. The walls were built 2.2m wide on flag footings, and the east and west walls were placed exactly in the centre of the former turf walls, whereas the north wall of the stone milecastle ran on the northern edge of the former turf north wall. The stone milecastle measured 24.3m across its overall width, with an internal width between the walls of 19m. The south side of the milecastle has not been identified, but its length was at least 13m.

The exact location of turret 72a has not yet been confirmed. On the basis of the usual spacing it is expected to be located approximately 50m east of West End Cottage. Roman pottery has been found in this area which appears to confirm the location. The turret probably lies at the junction between the length of Turf Wall constructed on a cobble base and the length built with turves stacked directly on the subsoil. Its remains are expected to survive as buried features.

Turret 72b was located by Simpson in 1948 in the north east corner of the field to the north of Rindle House. It was found to be from the original Turf Wall series and it projected 1.2m north of the line of the later Stone Wall. Its remains survive as buried features.

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 yet been confirmed in this section.