Milecastle 50

Milecastle 50
The site of Milecastle 50
Location within Cumbria
Type	Milecastle
Province	Britannia
— Stone structure —
Size and area	18.3 m x 23.2 m (0.04 ha)
Coordinates	54°59′14″N 2°36′58″W / 54.987165°N 2.616077°W / 54.987165; -2.616077
County	Cumbria
Country	England
UK-OSNG reference	NY60676601

Milecastle 50 (High House) was a milecastle on Hadrian's Wall (grid reference NY60676601).

Milecastle 50 is situated to the west of Birdoswald fort. It lies 1391 metres west of Milecastle 49 and 1501 metres east of Milecastle 51. Very little can be seen on the ground other than a ploughed-down earth platform.

The milecastle was excavated in 1911. Excavation showed that it measures 18.3 metres east to west by 23.2 metres north to south. It is built with narrow gauge defensive walls, which are bonded into the Narrow Wall curtain of Hadrian's Wall on either side. It has Type III gateways.

The stone milecastle replaced its predecessor, Milecastle 50TW (High House) on the Turf Wall, some 200 metres to the south (grid reference NY60716583). It is the only Turf Wall milecastle without a Stone Wall successor on it. Milecastle 50TW was excavated by F. G. Simpson and I. A. Richmond in 1934. It had turf defensive walls, a timber north tower, and a fragment of a timber construction inscription was recovered recording its construction under Aulus Platorius Nepos.

Each milecastle on Hadrian's Wall had two associated 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 50 are known as Turret 50A and Turret 50B.