Ancient to Medieval (And Slightly Later) History

Haunted Hadrian’s Wall: Milecastle 42 Roman Fort

Hadrian’s Wall, dating from AD 122, extends from Segedunum at Wallsend, across the width of the country to Bowness on Solway in Cumbria. At every mile along the way there was a small fort, a ‘milecastle’, where the soldiers who guarded the Roman Empire resided. Many different accounts of paranormal activity have been reported at these milecastles over the centuries. Milecastle 42 (aka Cawfields Milecastle) is one of these haunted Roman forts. Shocked visitors to the fort ruins have reported seeing an apparition of a man in Roman armor during broad daylight! His specter hovers in the air at the level where Hadrian’s wall used to reach, about 16 feet high.

The ghost has been seen so many times that a backstory has developed explaining his persistent presence. He is known as Lucius, a sentry at Milecastle 42, who made the mistake of falling for a local Briton girl. The girl’s brother would smuggle goods over Hadrian’s Wall in and out of the Empire. She became close to Lucius for the sole purpose of gaining information to help her brother. When the brother’s intrigues were finally discovered he was captured, and then indicated that Lucius was the sentry who was carelessly leaking information to his lover. Lucius then realized that this girl had been using him and committed suicide, dooming his spirit to roam the area forever.  You can read about the activity at Milecastle 42 in these books: They Still Serve: A Complete Guide to the Military Ghosts of Britain by Richard McKenzie, Ghost Trails of Northumbria by Clive Kristen and Haunted Northumberland by Darren W Ritson.

Milecastle 42 was built by the Second Augustan Legion on a steep south-facing slope south of of Cawfield Crags. It is on a well preserved section of Hadrian’s Wall.

(Source: Wikipedia)