Banks East Turret, kept in view by a diverted road, was one of the last on Hadrian's Wall still manned into the late fourth century
Open accessfree to visit at any reasonable time
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
One of the small lookout posts built along Hadrian’s Wall, Banks East is the furthest west you can still see today, standing along the stretch first laid down in turf before the Romans went back and rebuilt it in stone. Soldiers used it right through into the late fourth century AD, long after many of the neighbouring turrets had been abandoned. Archaeologists excavating in 1933 found a mason’s hammer and a coin of Hadrian, cooking pots and several hearths inside, along with a stone platform that once held the base of a ladder up to the floor above. Afterwards, the road running past was diverted around the turret so it could stay on public view, and Banks East became the first stretch of Hadrian’s Wall taken into state guardianship. Pike Hill Signal Tower stands just across the way and Hare Hill a short walk further west, both on the free, open Hadrian’s Wall Path.
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