Brownrigg milefortlet 22, 800m north east of the Cemetery Chapel, part of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast

Reasons for Designation

Hadrian's Wall marks one of the frontiers of the Roman Empire. The international importance of the surviving remains has been recognised through designation as a World Heritage Site. The military importance of the Tyne-Solway route across the Pennines was recognised by the Romans in the second half of the first century AD when a military road, the Stanegate, was constructed along with a series of forts. There is evidence that the Tyne-Solway route was being recognised as a frontier by the start of the second century AD, but the line was consolidated in the early second century AD by the construction of a substantial frontier work, Hadrian's Wall, in c.120 AD. Subsequent attempts to establish the boundary further north, between Clyde and Forth, failed by c.160 AD. Hadrian's Wall then remained the frontier of the Roman Empire in Britain until c.400 AD when Roman armies withdrew from Britain. For most of its course, the 70 miles of Hadrian's Wall running from coast to coast comprised a continuous stone wall (which in places was first temporarily built of turf) with permanent structures sited at intervals of one Roman mile (milecastles) and at third of a mile intervals (turrets) between the milecastles. At a later date, the Wall was strengthened by 16 full-size garrison forts built either on, or close to, the Wall. To the north of the Wall, for most of its length, lay a substantial defensive ditch and to the south a complex of banks and ditches provided east-west communication and demarcated the frontier zone from the province. To the west of Bowness-on-Solway, where the Wall reached the sea, however, the frontier had a different character and served a slightly different purpose. At the western end of the Wall a system of milefortlets and towers, spaced similarly to the milecastles and turrets along the Wall, extended the frontier system for at least 27 miles down the Cumbrian coast and helped control movement across the estuary of the Solway Firth. In places these milefortlets and towers were supplemented by lengths of palisade fences. Throughout its long history the Wall was not always well maintained. It was often neglected and sometimes overrun, but it remained in use until the late fourth century when a weak and divided Roman Empire finally withdrew its armies from the Wall and Britain. The frontier works along the Cumbrian coast survive as earthworks or buried archaeological remains, the latter sometimes visible on aerial photographs. They survive in this form largely as a result of the more ephemeral materials of which they were built (timber and turf instead of the stone of Hadrian's Wall land frontier) rather than because of poor survival of archaeological remains. Components of the coastal frontier which have surviving archaeological remains, whether visible or not, will generally be considered of national importance.

Despite now lying beneath a golf green and tee, limited excavation has shown that buried remains of Brownrigg milefortlet 22 survive well. The monument will contribute to further study of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast.

Details

The monument includes the buried remains of Brownrigg Roman milefortlet. Within the sequence of milefortlets along the Cumbrian coast this one has been identified as number 22. The milefortlet was originally of turf and timber construction and is located on a low cliff towards the north end of Maryport Golf Course where it now lies buried beneath a green and tee. It was originally discovered in 1962 when rainwater lodged in the shallow depression of the milefortlet's infilled defensive ditch was observed. Limited excavation by Bellhouse in 1968 found the ditch to exist on all sides except the west and to have originally measured approximately 6.5m wide by 1.5m deep. The turf rampart survived well, measured up to 9.4m wide and 0.76m high, had a footpath of flat stones on the top indicating a rampart walkway, and showed three separate phases of construction. A gravelled road ran between the milefortlet's western side and the cliff edge and gave access to an entrance 1.8m wide on this side. Within the interior the east-west axial gravel-surfaced road was found and other finds from the excavation included two hearths or ovens, Roman pottery dated to the first half of the second century AD, the sole of a sandal, two cooking pot covers and a fragment of a quernstone. Bellhouse's plan of the site indicates that it measures c.57m north east-south west across the ditches by c.44m north west-south east including the access road. All post and wire fences are excluded from the scheduling but the ground beneath these features is included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

27723

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Bellhouse, R L, Trans Cumb and West Antiq and Arch Soc. New Ser. in Roman Sites On The Cumberland Coast, Vol. LXIII, (1963), 141-7
Bellhouse, R L, Trans Cumb and West Antiq and Arch Soc. New Ser. in Roman Sites On The Cumberland Coast, Vol. LXX, (1970), 10-19
Bellhouse, R L, Trans Cumb and West Antiq and Arch Soc. New Ser. in Roman Sites On The Cumberland Coast, Vol. LXXXI, (1981), 11

Other
RCHME, Cumberland Coast Events Record, (1995)

End of official list entry

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