Milecastle 9 (Chapel House) was a milecastle of the Roman Hadrian's Wall. Its remains exist partially as a low platform, and are located in West Denton (to the west of Newcastle upon Tyne), 300 yd from Chapel House Farm. However, the northern part of the remains are now mostly covered by the modern roads (A69/B6528). The milecastle marks a watershed between those with relatively well-defined positions (to the west) and those whose position are less certain (to the east).

Construction

Milecastle 9 was a long-axis milecastle with Type IV gateways (a broad wall variation of Type II gateways). ). Such milecastles were thought to have been constructed by the Legio XX Valeria Victrix who were based in Deva Victrix (Chester). The only other known milecastles with Type IV gateways are Milecastle 27 and possibly Milecastle 10. The milecastle had internal dimensions of 48 ft wide by 60 ft long, with gates 9 ft wide. The side walls were 9 ft thick with the south wall being slightly narrower and having rounded internal and external corners to the side walls. The side walls were constructed of a clay and rubble core, with mortared facing stones. Seven stones from the base course were found to bear numerals (5 of 'VIII', 1 of 'VIIII' and one of 'IX'). It is possible that these were cut at the quarry. A posthole has been found in the western portion of Milecastle 9, possibly indicating an earlier timber structure. The barrack block covered a reasonably small 32m2. As a result, it has been suggested that the garrison size was 8 men, smaller than many other milecastles (which had up to 32). The stone built barracks was extended in the third century and another building of unknown function erected close by to the west.

Excavations and investigations

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 9 are known as Turret 9A and Turret 9B.

Turret 9A

Turret 9A is thought to lie beneath a modern road in Walbottle, though its precise position is unknown as no visible traces remain. Excavations were carried out to locate the turret in 1929 but failed to find it. Presumed location: 54.9922°N, -1.72951°W

Turret 9B

Turret 9B (Walbottle) is also located under a modern road (Hawthorn Terrace) near the west end of St. Cuthbert's Primary School. Although surface remains are now obscured by the road, 19 ft of Turret 9B's south wall was located in 1928, under a hedge to the north of the road. The precise position is a matter of dispute with the excavation report placing it 545 yd east of Milecastle 10 whilst another source gives the distance as 570 yd, however it was recorded that it was built using the same substantial masonry as Turret 7B, with the door in the same position. Location on Ordnance Survey 1:25 000 map: 54.99367°N, -1.73673°W

Monument records