Herd Hill North (tower 3b), 175m north east of the sheep wash, 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 the lack of surface remains, limited antiquarian investigation has shown that buried remains of Herd Hill North tower 3b survive reasonably well. The monument will contribute to any further study of the Roman frontier defences along the Cumbrian coast.

Details

The monument includes the buried remains of Herd Hill North tower. Within the sequence of Roman towers along the Cumbrian coast this one has been identified as 3b. The tower was originally of sandstone construction and is located on a slight rise on the line of a gravel ridge which is more pronounced on the seaward side. Limited antiquarian investigation of the monument in 1880 found the tower to measure c.5.8m square externally and to be constructed on foundations of cobbles set in cement. Internally the tower measured c.4m square and contained a flagged floor on which Roman pottery, human bones and a quantity of mussel shells were found. Amongst the Roman pottery was an amphora handle bearing the stamp ROMANI. RR.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract. It includes a 10 metre boundary around the archaeological features, considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

27728

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Thompson, F H, Archaeology and Coastal Change, (1980), 90
Bellhouse, R L, Britannia in Notes on Solway Frontier: Interim Report 1976-81, Vol. 15, (1984), 232-4
Collingwood, R G, Trans Cumb And West Antiq And Arch Soc. New Ser. in Roman Signal Stations on the Cumberland Coast, Vol. XXIX, (1929), 146
Ferguson, C, Trans Cumb & West Antiq & Arch Soc. Old Ser. in , Vol. 5, (1881), 128
Jones, G D B, Britannia in The Solway Frontier: Interim Report, Vol. 13, (1982), 287

Other
To Robinson,K.D. (MPPA), Carr, G.H. (Owner), (1996)
To Robinson,K.D. (MPPA), Jones,G.D.B., (1996)

End of official list entry

All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.