Drift mine, probably for lead, surviving as an earthwork. (1)

Drift mine and associated spoil heaps visible on aerial photographs. (2)

A prominent spoil heap, south-east from Housesteads fort, is the remains of 19th century drift mine. The mound is about 1.8m high, pear-shaped and flat-topped. The mine adit lies about 40m to the north. A 4 metre-wide hollow, just north of the field wall, might represent an air shaft or perhaps collapse into the workings. The mine appears to have been short-lived, dug at the end of the 19th century. A vein of lead ore outcrops near the fort and subes of galena have been found in the vicinity. A previous, mistaken interpretation of the spoil heap has been as the tribunal for a parade ground. (3)

Projecting into the marsh at the foot of the hillside, there is a flat-topped, pear-shaped mound, 1.8m high, which is the spoil heap from a drift mine situated about 40m to the N at NY 7938 6869. A hollow, 4m across, immediately N of a field wall may be an old air shaft or possibly a collapse. The mine appears to have no recorded history, but lead prospecting is known to have taken place at the Roman bath house towards the end of the 19th century (4b), and this may be an unsuccessful attempt to extract lead ore. (4a)

The mound of spoil and a channel or adit leading into the hillside to the north are clearly visible on air photographs. The mound is illustrated on OS mapping dating to 1922 but not before. (4c-f)