Milecastle 19

Milecastle 19 was a long-axis milecastle with Type III gateways.^[1][2] Such milecastles were thought to have been constructed by the legio VI Victrix who were based in Eboracum (York).^[3] The milecastle lies 150 metres (160 yd) east of the hamlet of Matfen Piers on a section of the narrow wall and, though part of it lies beneath the modern Military Road, is visible as a substantial rise in the hedgerow and as a 0.15m high platform in a cereal field to the south of the road.^[1][2][4] The milecastle measures 16.25 metres (17.77 yd) east to west and 17.2 metres (18.8 yd) north to south.^[1] It is known to be situated on an outcrop of degraded sandstone, either naturally occurring or placed for this purpose.^[1]

• 1858 – The low platform marking the milecastle is noted by Henry MacLauchlan in his survey of the wall.^[1]
• 1867 – John Collingwood Bruce also notes the presence of a platform in his book The Roman Wall.^[1]
• 1931–32 – Excavated by Eric Birley and the North of England Excavation Committee during work on the Carlisle to Newcastle road.^[1][2] The north gate was found to have vanished, though its foundations remained, and a hearth discovered at the western side of the southern end of the passage suggested that this gate was partially blocked during the Roman era.^[1] The only side wall to remain was part of the western passage wall, though footings indicated that this milecastle had type III gates, and a 2.38 metres (2.60 yd) south wall suggested a narrow wall construction.^[1] A Roman altar was discovered immediately outside the south gate of the milecastle.^[1][5]
• 1935 – Excavated by Frank G. Simpson.^[1]
• 1980s – The wall of an internal building within the milecastle was exposed by ploughing.^[1]
• 14 July 1997 – The milecastle was scheduled as an ancient monument.^[2]
• 1999 – An excavation is undertaken by English Heritage consisting of two trenches, one through the eastern wall and interior and one through the southern wall.^[1] The eastern wall was noticeably robbed but found to be of stone, bonded by clay, with a rubble core.^[1] The excavation discovered that the floor was made of sandy clay or else this formed the basis for a later earthen floor, and that it was cobbled in the western portion of the interior.^[1][2] Finds recovered included some ironwork, modern glass, an animal bone, one Roman Sestertius of Emperor Hadrian dating from AD 125–138 and pottery (some pre-Roman, but mostly 2nd/3rd century AD).^[1] The archaeologists were able to confirm that the milecastle was of narrow wall construction.^[1] The milecastle was noted to have been damaged by ploughing.^[2]

The altar discovered, in a 2nd-century AD context, in the 1930s led Birley to suggest that there was a shrine located nearby or that the milecastle had later been converted to religious use.^[1][2] The size of the altar suggests that the temple would have been very small.^[6]

Though altars are not uncommon on Hadrian's Wall, there are 13 other altars or tombs located near to milecastles, it is an inscription on the altar at Milecastle 19 that makes it important to Roman historians.^[1] The inscription reads "MATRIB TEMPL CVM ARA VEX COH I VARD INSTANTE P D V VSLM" which translates as "to the Mother Goddesses, this temple with its altarstone [was built by] a detachment of the First Cohort of Varduli, under P[ublius] D[omitius?] V[?], willingly and deservedly fulfilling their vow".^[7]

The dedication to the Matres, or mother goddesses is one of only 60 known from Roman Britain.^[8] The First Cohort of Varduli are also mentioned in inscriptions at the Antonine Wall, Longovicium in Durham, Bremenium and Corstopitum in Northumberland and on the Dere Street in Cappuck in the Scottish Borders.^[9] The Vardullians are known to have been present at Corbridge in the AD 160s.^[5] The inscription has led to debate amongst archaeologists as to whether Hadrian's Wall was manned by Roman legionaries or men of the non-citizen auxilia or numeri.^[1] Birley suggested that those soldiers who were tasked with manning the wall were drawn from separate units from those who manned the supporting forts.^[5] The altar itself is recorded as a separate monument to the milecastle by English Heritage and is now in the collection of the Durham University Museum of Archaeology.^[10]

The wall at Milecastle 19 was less than 2.44 metres (8.0 ft) wide, with a noticeable stepped reduction in wall thickness just 27.5 metres (90 ft) east of the milecastle.^[5] This step occurred between the second and third courses and is thought to indicate a later repair of the wall.^[5] A causeway used to be visible across the vallum to the south of the milecastle.^[5] An English Heritage report in the late 1990s found that MC19 was one of only two milecastles being actively damaged by agriculture (the other being Milecastle 9) and that it had almost totally been destroyed through farming.^[11]