A Roman Fort - Animation

[Gluteus Maximus]

Neil. I do not wish to be rude in any way but there were no towers at milecastles, and that was even at the maximum width of the Wall which was 10 Roman feet.

Dont worry Brian, I never take it as rudeness if someone takes issue with authenticity of my models, as they are made to provoke debate However, I do like references and evidence to back up the statement, and thus far I have not found any definitive archaeological evidence, or primary sources, that categorically state that there were no towers at milecastles.

Every single reconstruction I have seen of a milecastle - including the excellent animation under discussion here - seems to indicate that there was, and this is directly influenced by the findings of Birley, Breeze et al. I would also say that out of 75 milecastles, all under occupation for 260 years and undergoing several rebuilds, we should be wary of making a blanket statement which encompasses all these structures. It is possible that many different combinations of tower/no tower, 2 storey/3 storey tower were to be seen at any one time, and would have been dependent on topography, availability of building materials and even the whims of the engineers conducting the building.

The one major issue I would take with all the reconstructions - including mine - is that the masonry at both North and South gates of a milecastle is identical, and I wonder why it has become canon that there was a tower at the North gate but not at the South.