[NY 7456 6758] Milecastle [G.S.] (site of). Excavated AD 1908. (1)

Milecastle 40, just below the top of the Winshields, was excavated in 1908. It measures internally 55ft from east to west, and 62ft north to south. (2)

Scheduled. (3)

The remains are in poor condition and consist of rubble and turf-covered banks, now considerably spread and mutilated. Resurveyed at 1:2500. (4)

The site of the milecastle has been made obvious by the 'robber trenches' and spoil from stone-grubbing activity, but the whole is meaningless in terms of original remains. (5)

A detailed description of early excavations and find has been published by Simpson. (6)

Scheduled. (7)

Constructed entirely to the Narrow Wall standard (between 2.14m - 2.00m wide), and has unusually narrow gateways. (8)

A detailed description of early excavations and finds has been published by Simpson. Simpson's excavations found the remains of the milecastle to be greatly disturbed but the south wall was still ten courses high; it measured 60 feet north-south by about 49 feet east -west with type II gates. No satisfactory plan of the interior buildings was recovered although there are possible buildings in the west half. There were considerable signs of rebuilding. (9a)

Milecastle 40 (Winshields)
The milecastle can be seen as turf-covered rubble banks up to 1.0m high; there are also the possible remains of an oven on the east side, though this is not in the position planned by Simpson (see Authority 6, Plate IV). The milecastle is of the long axis type. (9b)

Reference (9c)

Located on the English Heritage map of Hadrian's Wall 2010. (9d)

General association with HER 6459 (Turret 40a), HER 6460 (Turret 40b), HER 32566 (Winshields Wall). (9)