 It has Type III gateways and lies 1521m west of Milecastle 47 and 1458m east of Milecastle 49.A notable feature of this milecastle is the survival of a substantial part of the flight of stairs giving access to the ramparts of Hadrian's Wall in the north-east corner, allowing a wall-walk height of 3.6m to be projected and suggesting a height for the curtain wall (including parapet) of around 4.6m.The Stanegate Roman road, which preceded Hadrian's Wall, crossed the Poltross Burn a few hundred yards to the south of Milecastle 48; part of its route can be seen descending a field to the river's edge.