More information : [NY 0765 4565] Roman milefortlet 17 - measured position only. (1)
No ground evidence seen. Recent excavations for extension of the sea wall have revealed nothing of interest. (2)
NY 077 456 (NY 0771 4565) Roman milefortlet 17, previously thought to have been destroyed by coastal erosion, was located on aerial photography by Jones in 1977. The west side is lost under the modern road and sea-defences, but the east side, with entrance, and parts of the north and south sides were visible. The dimensions over the ramparts may be reconstructed as circa 46m square. Inside immediately north of the east gate, a square feature may indicate a later building. To the east there is a crop mark indicative of an earlier feature, perhamps a small fort or camp. (3-4)
Dubmill Point. Limited excavation in 1983 proved the milefortlet to have an exceptionally wide berm at the rear (more than 20 feet), and different rampart materials, suggesting a tripartite development. A road leading into the rear gate was constructed of shingle on a thick base of cobbles, with no evidence of repair or resurfacing. Abraded pottery and some iron nails were the only associated finds. Jones' earlier feature to the east of the milefortlet was investigated by trenching but not proved, and a pre-Hadrianic primary phase appears highly unlikely, as the Solway system seems to have been built as a piece. (5-6)
Revised schedule of coastal sites. (7)
A geophysical survey of January 1994 (8a) showed the precise position of the milefortlet at NY 0769 4565, surrounded on three sides by a ditch, the fourth, W side now being overlaid by the modern road. All that remains to be seen on the ground is a slight ploughed-down depression defining the ditch on the east and south sides, which is situated on the edge of a field under permanent pasture. The highest point in the enclosed area is along the east side. (8)
Scheduled. (9)
The Roman milefortlet was seen as a cropmark and mapped from air photographs taken by GB Jones. It is more accurately located at NY 0769 4565 as confirmed by the geophysical survey. Its approximate internal dimensions are 46-48m; the surrounding ditch is approximately 6m wide. The small rectilinear enclosure which lies inside the eastern gate measures approximately 9 by 10m. A cropmark to the east of the milefortlet, which is probably the one referred to by Authority 3, is clearly visible on two other photographs also taken by Jones on the same date. These two photos are taken from quite different directions but are clearly showing cropmarks of what are probably two ditched field boundaries: adjacent fields 32 m wide. These features are probably much later in date, perhaps post-medieval, and overlying the milefortlet. (10-11)
Milefortlet 17, Dubmill Point: air photograph. (12)
Located on the English Heritage map of Hadrian's Wall 2010. (13)
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