View source for Milecastle 53

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox castrum
|name = Milecastle 53
|image = Hadrian's Wall at Hare Hill - geograph.org.uk - 2886878.jpg
|caption = Hadrian's Wall at Hare Hill, just west of the site of Milecastle 53
|alt_names = 
|built_during_reign_of = 
|founded = 
|abandoned = 
|previous_fortification = 
|type = [[Milecastle]]
|province = 
|limes = 
|coordinates = {{coord|54.974146|-2.681336|display=inline,title}}
|altitude_m = 
|altitude_ref = 
|map = United Kingdom Cumbria
|map_alt = 
|place_name = 
|location_town = 
|location_county = Cumbria
|location_country = England
|ref:UK:OSNG = {{gbmappingsmall|NY56486460}}
|discovery_year = 
|condition = 
|controlled_by = 
|excavations = 
|archaeologists = 
|notes = 
|commons = 
}}
'''Milecastle 53 (Banks Burn)''' was a [[milecastle]] on [[Hadrian's Wall]] ({{gbmapping|NY56486460}}).

==Description==
Milecastle 53 is west of the hamlet of [[Banks, Cumbria]] and northeast of [[Lanercost Priory]]. It lies 1520 metres west of [[Milecastle 52]] and 1436 metres east of [[Milecastle 54]]. There is no trace of the milecastle visible.<ref name="pastscape1">[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=12694 MILECASTLE 53], Pastscape, retrieved 5 December 2013</ref>

The tall section of Hadrian's Wall at Hare Hill (standing to a height of about 2.7 metres) is just 80 metres west of Milecastle 53 ({{gbmapping|NY56406462}}).<ref name="pastscape4">[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1010379 HARE HILL], Pastscape, retrieved 5 December 2013</ref>

==Excavations==
Milecastle 53 was excavated in 1932. It measured 21.9 metres east to west by 23.3 metres north to south. It had [[Milecastle gateways|Type III gateways]].

The excavation found that most of the milecastle had been robbed of masonry and the original floor had been removed so that no internal buildings remained.<ref name="pastscape1"/> Some remnants of the earlier [[Hadrian's Wall#Turf Wall|Turf Wall]] milecastle remained in the northeast corner and south section.<ref name="pastscape1"/>

== Associated turrets ==
Each milecastle on Hadrian's Wall had two associated [[Turret (Hadrian's Wall)|turret]] structures. These turrets were positioned approximately one-third and two-thirds of a [[Roman mile]] to the west of the Milecastle, and would probably have been manned by part of the milecastle's garrison. The turrets associated with '''Milecastle 53''' are known as '''Turret 53A''' and '''Turret 53B'''.

===Turret 53A===
'''Turret 53A (Hare Hill)''' ({{gbmapping|NY56126461}}) survives as a slight [[Earthworks (archaeology)|earthwork]] platform. The turret was found in 1854 or 1855, and excavated in 1932.<ref name="pastscape2">[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=12689 TURRET 53A], Pastscape, retrieved 5 December 2013</ref> The interior was found to be full of ashes.<ref name="pastscape2"/>

===Turret 53B===
'''Turret 53B (Craggle Hill)''' ({{gbmapping|NY55536453}}) also survives as a slight [[Earthworks (archaeology)|earthwork]] platform. It was excavated in 1932.<ref name="pastscape3">[http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=12684 TURRET 53B], Pastscape, retrieved 5 December 2013</ref> The turret was the most easterly structure in Hadrian's Wall to use [[New Red Sandstone|red sandstone]].<ref name="pastscape3"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Milecastles}}

[[Category:Milecastles of Hadrian's Wall|53]]
[[Category:Roman sites in Cumbria]]