Milecastle 3

Milecastle 3 (Ouseburn) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. No remains exist, but it was thought to have been located at the junction of the A187 Byker Bridge and Stephen Street.

Construction
No evidence exists as to the configuration or type of Milecastle 3, though the curtain wall at this stage was almost certainly a narrow configuration.

Excavations and investigations

 * 1732 - Horsley surveyed the milecastle, recording its position.


 * 1776 - The location was visited by Stukeley, who sketched the area for his ''Iter Boreale'.


 * 1789 - Brand visited the site, but noted that many of the stones had been removed from the foundations some years previously, for use in the building of an adjoining house.


 * 1848 - Collingwood Briuce reported that a small, partly illegible altar had been found close to the presumed site of the milecastle. The altar (NMR Number: NZ 26 SE 227) was dedicated by Julius Maximus.  Having searched the area, he could find no trace of Roman remains.


 * 1858 - Henry MacLauchlan surveyed the area but reported no dependable trace of the milecastle.


 * 1928 - FG Simpson measured the distance from Milecastle 2 to Milecastle 3 as 1450 yd.


 * 1979 - Exploratory trenches were sunk during the building of the Metro, revealing no trace of the milecastle.

Associated Turrets
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 3 are known as Turret 3A and Turret 3B.

Turret 3A
Nothing is known of Turret 3A.  Presumed location: 54.97489°N, -1.59613°W

Turret 3B
Nothing is known of Turret 3B.  Presumed location: 54.97222°N, -1.6024°W