More information : NY 026 352. (1)
A trial excavation was made in 1969 near the cliff edge at the summit of Rise How Bank where the soil was very stony and slight mounds and hollows could be seen. This was the predicted position for Roman mile fortlet 26. Finds consisted of a solid gravelled road containing Roman pot and the left ditch (of the fortlet) in two places. (2)
Excavations in 1981 and 1982 confirmed the structure there to be one of the pair of towers between fortlets 26 and 27 (and not a milefortlet). Milefortlet 25 has been re-sited to area NY 028 356, circa 540 yds further north of previous location. (3)
Between the known positions of milefortlet 23, established by air photo examination and geophysical survey, and the tower at NY 0267 3502, excavated by Bellhouse and identified by him as tower 26a, there is an accurately measured gap of 3474m. This area is occupied mainly by Maryport town and the industrial zone to the south of it; no trace of milefortlets or towers have ever been found here, and none are visible now. Bellhouse (authy 1) has suggested that the Roman fort at Maryport was in existence before or during the setting out of the frontier system, and that there was a 'dislocation' of the pattern of fortlets and towers at the fort. It is his belief that the series from the north ended at the north corner turret of the fort, and then the measured sequence resumed from the south corner going south. There is no evidence that is not circumstantial to support this. The distance between the elements of the frontier need not be exactly one third of a Roman mile, as is clear elsewhere along the Cumberland Coast and on Hadrian's Wall itself. Nevertheless, if the distance of 3474m is divided by 7, the result is 496.29m, or some 1.64m more than the standard one third of a Roman mile (494.65m). If the milefortlets/towers are plotted at 496m intervals in a straight line between MF23 and Bellhouse's T26b, milefortlet 25 would have occured at NY 0292 3544 in a built up area (and Bellhouse's T26a would be T25a). (4)
Located on the English Heritage Map of Hadrian's Wall 2010. This is the southernmost known of the fortlets of the Cumberland coast.(5-6) |