HE western end of Hadrian's Wall has received relatively far less archaeological study than the central and eastern sectors, and in the Solway area there is room for re-assessment. The final section of the stone-built wall was observed on 29 August 17071 running into the Solway some quarter mile west of the terminal fort at Bowness.2 Beyond this further forts along the Cumberland coast as far as Moresby and beyond have long been recognised along with a number of apparently isolated milefortlets in the northern section.3 To this picture, largely through the work of Bellhouse,4 has been added a growing collection of free-standing towers similar to the turrets of the mural system. Yet the system as hitherto known could be thought incomplete. For although Bowness marks the position of a ford, there is no major break in the southern Solway coastline until Moricambe, the combined estuary of the Rivers Waver and Wampool;5 that broad estuary marks a far more obvious point at which to terminate a linear defence system (FIG. I). The opportunity to aquire fresh evidence was provided by the exceptional drought conditions of June 1975. Aerial photography at Milefortlet i (Biglands) revealed the presence of two parallel ditches 46 m apart approaching the front and rear of the site from the direction of Bowness (PL. XXII, A). Unsuitable ground obscures its immediate continuation towards North Plain. At the site of Tower 2B, however, beside Campfield the line of a continuous ditch (PL. XXII, B) was located some 7m to the front of the site of Tower 2B which is carefully sited to take advantage of a raised beach. The rearward ditch was not observed in 1975, probably because of crop conditions. Both ditches appeared with clarity, however, for much of the interval between Milefortlet 4 (Herd Hill) and 5 (Cardurnock), especially immediately north of Tower 4A, where the most informative excavation of the crop-mark features took place. The topographical