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.
Details
The monument includes the upstanding and buried remains of Mawbray Sandpit
tower. Within the sequence of Roman towers along the Cumbrian coast this one
has been identified as 16b. The tower was originally of sandstone construction
and is located on a consolidated sand dune to the south east of a disused sand
and gravel pit. The outer face of the tower's north wall 0.15m high and 3.3m
long can be seen protruding above the ground, and the inner face can be
ascertained by probing indicating a wall width of c.1.1m. Limited excavation
by Bellhouse in 1954 found the west wall of the tower to survive up to two
courses high and c.1.2m wide. Elsewhere only the clay and cobble foundations
of the other walls remained showing that the tower originally measured c.3.8m
square internally and c.6.2m square externally. Internally several hearths
were found together with an assortment of animal bones and shellfish which
gave evidence of the dietary habits of the tower's occupants. Other finds
included a stone platform in the south east corner, three spearheads, nails,
metal spikes, bronze wire, fragments of a shield boss, pottery, and glass. Of
particular interest were fragments of a large Roman storage jar of Spanish
type. Four pieces, which could be joined together, carried a graffito in
cursive lettering reading:
IIS VRI[.
CIIIKYIIPT[
INSVLSAI[I
In translation the first line reads `I am hungry.' The second line refers to
the vessel's capacity when full (in this case 17.5 pints or 9.94 litres), and
the third line labels the contents as `unsalted'. It appears that some
delicacy, stored dry in this jar, was shipped from Spain to a Roman site in
Cumbria. Further limited excavation in 1970 indicated that the tower had been
rebuilt. A sandstone and clay wall 1.5m wide was found a little to one side of
one of the robbed out walls of the earlier tower together with the entrance to
the first tower and an associated gravel path. A mixture of clay, sandstone
and shingle overlying the remains of the towers indicates deliberate
demolition by the Romans after a short period of occupation.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
Legacy System number:
27715
Legacy System:
RSM
Sources
Books and journals Other
Legal
This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
End of official list entry
