By Crasterfarian
The original layout of Hadrian’s Wall is famed for its order, or it was until they decided to add the forts but, in its inception, it was. The grand design was: a milecastle every mile, turrets set like clockwork between them and the sort of precision that shouts “Rome”.
However, here at Peel Gap, just between Turret 39A (Peel Crag) and Turret 39B (Steel Rigg), the Romans threw us a curveball. Not only that, but it’s also a recent discovery. In 1987, when conservation work was being done after the Wall had gained its World Heritage Site status, archaeologists stumbled on something no one expected, an extra turret. It wasn’t part of the neat plan, and it broke the rhythm of the Wall. To this day, it remains the only additional turret ever found.
A Gap Too Far
The reason lies in the spacing. Between Milecastles 39, 40 and 41 the gaps are the widest of anywhere along the Wall, nearly a full British imperial mile. Maybe that’s why someone decided to plonk in another turret.
Look at the landscape and it makes sense. This patch of ground is broad and flat, easily accessible from the north, a prime spot for attack. Most of the time the Romans let such opportunities pass, especially further east, but not here. Here they bucked the trend, giving us three turrets between Milecastle 39 and 40.
An Afterthought in Stone
- Unlike standard turrets recessed into the Wall curtain, Peel Gap Tower was an awkward add-on, built up against the Wall rather than in it.
- The structure was small, about 4 × 3.6 metres inside, with walls nearly a metre thick. Instead of the local sandstone used for the curtain, it was built in whinstone, which had to be dressed specially.
- A doorway in the south wall was later blocked, and a platform on the west side may have been used to climb to the wall-walk.
These quirks all point to the same thing: it was built after the Wall was first finished in stone, around AD 125–130, a hasty addition to plug what someone thought was a weak point.
As it was an addition, the Romans may have used the stone closest at hand rather than the trek south to the limestone and sandstone quarries that most of the Wall was made from
Can You Imagine the Planning Meeting?
It’s easy to picture the scene when the order came down
“Stop, stop, STOP… we’re putting an extra turret in.”
“Where?”
“Between 39A and 39B.”
“Whey aye, why? You’re spoiling the spacing. Honest, it’ll look shite.”
“Because the Tribune wants one.”
“Eh? What does that knakka knaa aboot wall-building? Nowt! He’s never done a day’s graft in his life. Only got the jeurb coz his mutha was getting rattled by one of the Praetorian Guard.”
“Just get on with it, battaheed, or I’ll shove this gladius reet up ya jinka.”
Well… something like that but in Latin.
Death Alley
From above, you can see how the Wall bends here into a shallow U-shape. Any force coming straight at the Peel Gap turret would have been caught in a death alley, flanked on both sides by fire from pila, arrows even ballista bolts launched from the higher ground. Perhaps the tower was a platform for that early Roman artillery. It was a textbook ambush position, even if it was a late addition.
Roman Demolition
The real twist is that the tower was short-lived. At some point, probably in the later 2nd century when the frontier was reorganised, the Romans themselves pulled it down. The doorway was blocked, the foundations neatly robbed out, and no occupation deposits built up.
Excavations show the two standard turrets either side of Peel Gap, Turret 39A (Peel Crag) and Turret 39B (Steel Rigg), were abandoned and dismantled at the end of the 2nd century, with their recesses built up so the curtain could run straight through. 39B has no visible remains today and 39A survives only as a shallow hollow.
In other words, this mile saw a late-2nd-century tidy-up, the odd Peel Gap add-on went, and its two neighbours were erased as well, along with many other turrets on the Wall.
This also breathes more life into my theory that there were no turrets ever built west of Castlesteads (Camboglanna). It seems they tried it, found it wanting, and erased it from the system.
A Unique Survivor
Peel Gap Tower is remarkable. The only additional turret ever found on the entire Wall. A one-off experiment, born of practical worry, quickly abandoned.
It shows Rome wasn’t always perfect, sometimes they bodged it, sometimes they over-engineered and sometimes they admitted defeat and tore it down.
Today, you can still stand by its foundations, looking down the hill towards the little National Trust cottage nearby and the Twice Brewed Pub and The Sill visitors’ centre. The cottage can be rented out it if you fancy waking up with the Wall at your door, it’s certainly on my bucket list.
Oh, did I mention the Twice Brewed in has a brewery… What are you waiting for?
With love from the Crasterfarian XX
