milecastlen.
/ˈmʌɪlˌkɑːsl/, /ˈmʌɪlˌkasl/, U.S. /ˈmaɪlˌkæs(ə)l/ Roman History.
Each of a series of small fortified posts established by the Romans at intervals (typically of one Roman mile) along Hadrian's Wall in northern England.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > defence > defensive work(s) > fort or fortified town > [noun] > fort on frontier
barrier1600
frontier1604
milecastle1708
1708 Observ. upon Pick Wall in E. Gibson tr. W. Camden Brit. (1722) II. 1055/1 Throughout all the extent I have been speaking of, are great numbers of little Forts or Castles, which the Inhabitants there generally call Mile-Castles, as built at every mile's end.
1732 J. Horsley Britannia Romana 118 These castella seem to have stood closest, where the stations are widest, and are by some modern authors called mile castles or milliary castella.
1863 J. C. Bruce Wallet-bk. Roman Wall 27 In addition to the stations, Castella or Mile-Castles were provided for the use of the troops which garrisoned the Wall.
1911 J. P. Gibson & F. G. Simpson (title) The builder of the Roman Wall, as indicated by the results of the excavation of High House Milecastle and Three Turrets, near Birdoswald.
1923 R. G. Collingwood Roman Brit. ii. 30 Along the top [of Hadrian's wall] was a rampart-walk, patrolled by the sentries, and reached by stairs either at a fort, a milecastle, or a turret.
1936 Nature 25 July 156/2 A milecastle and three quarters of a mile of the wall itself were presented to the National Trust.
1963 E. S. Wood Collins Field Guide Archaeol. ii. ii. 177 The milecastles [of Hadrian's Wall] were about 75 by 60 feet, the turrets about 20 feet square.
1990 Antiquaries Jrnl. 70 134/1 It is impossible [on the map under review] to discern where short sections of the Wall are extant, while some of the milecastles and turrets appear to span both sides of the modern road.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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