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191 facts about the Saxon Shore forts, all checked

Every fact on this site in one place, each linked to its source. Our build checks each one against the source text; see the sources page. Where sources disagree you’ll find each one.

Jump to: The Saxon Shore | The Notitia Dignitatum | The early forts | The later forts | Why were they built? | More forts, and across the Channel | Portchester | Richborough | Pevensey | Burgh Castle | Caister | Reculver | The national curriculum in England

The Saxon Shore

  1. 1 They are known as the “forts of the Saxon Shore” from a single mention in a much later Roman document, the Notitia Dignitatum. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  2. 2 In the 3rd century AD, several Roman forts were built along the Channel coasts of east and south-east England and northern Gaul. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  3. 3 All of them were built at important coastal estuaries and inlets. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  4. 4 Nine forts listed in the Notitia as under the Count of the Saxon Shore have been matched with Roman remains between the Wash in Norfolk and the Solent in Hampshire. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  5. 5 Today the name lives on in a 153-mile long-distance footpath, the Saxon Shore Way. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  6. 6 The name led to a long-standing assumption that the forts housed Roman soldiers fighting off “Saxon” pirates. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  7. 7 To Roman writers, “Saxon” seems to have been a catch-all word for several Germanic tribes, including Franks and Frisians. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  8. 8 We don’t know why the Notitia uses the name “Saxon Shore”. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  9. 9 The Notitia gives a very senior officer the title Comes litoris Saxonici per Britanniam, “the Count of the Saxon Shore in Britain”. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  10. 10 The Notitia also lists two places across the Channel on the Saxon Shore: Oudenburg (now in Belgium) and Aardenburg (Netherlands). English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  11. 11 The Notitia Dignitatum, or “List of Offices”, lists the senior military and civilian posts across the Roman Empire. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  12. 12 A medieval copy of the Notitia, dated 1436, shows the places under the command of the Count of the Saxon Shore. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  13. 13 English Heritage’s Burgh Castle page says the string of Saxon Shore forts stretched between the Solent and the Wash. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  14. 14 English Heritage’s Burgh Castle page says the forts are thought to have acted as a defence against seaborne raiders, as naval bases and as defended trading centres. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  15. 15 English Heritage’s Caister page says the forts are thought to have acted as a defence against Saxon seaborne raiders. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort
  16. 16 English Heritage’s Portchester history says the forts were built over the 3rd century to meet the threat of Saxon pirates raiding the south coast. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle

The Notitia Dignitatum

  1. 17 English Heritage’s Saxon Shore article says the Notitia was probably compiled between AD 390 and AD 420. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  2. 18 English Heritage’s Portchester history says the Notitia’s date is disputed, but is commonly placed between AD 380 and AD 420. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  3. 19 English Heritage’s Pevensey history says the western part of the Notitia is usually regarded as late 4th or early 5th century. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  4. 20 Some of the information in the Notitia may be much older than the document itself. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  5. 21 Burgh Castle, Lympne and Reculver had been abandoned by the AD 380s, which shows how out of date some of the Notitia is. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison

The early forts

  1. 22 In the AD 230s, three forts were built on the east coast of Britain: Brancaster and Caister-on-Sea in Norfolk, and Reculver in Kent. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  2. 23 Brancaster, Caister and Reculver have “playing card” plans: rectangular, with rounded corners. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  3. 24 The early forts had stone walls backed by broad earth banks (ramparts) on the inside. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  4. 25 There is no written evidence for raiding in Britain at the time the early forts were built. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison

The later forts

  1. 26 The later forts are at Burgh Castle, Bradwell-on-Sea, Richborough, Dover, Lympne, Pevensey and Portchester. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  2. 27 Archaeologists have shown that the later forts were built at various times between about AD 260 and AD 300. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  3. 28 English Heritage’s Saxon Shore article dates Portchester to around AD 286 and Pevensey to around AD 293. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  4. 29 Most of the later forts have massive stone walls up to 4 metres wide and up to 8 metres high. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  5. 30 A new feature was massive towers jutting out from the walls and at the corners, so soldiers could fire along the walls. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  6. 31 The later forts have fewer gates than earlier forts, usually with a single opening. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  7. 32 At Portchester and Pevensey the gates are set back from the line of the wall, so defenders could attack from three sides. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  8. 33 The later forts vary in shape, from the long rectangle of Burgh Castle and the square of Portchester to the irregular polygon of Lympne and the long oval of Pevensey. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  9. 34 Most buildings inside the later forts were probably made of wood. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  10. 35 At Portchester, women and children lived inside the fort alongside the soldiers. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  11. 36 English Heritage’s Reculver history says later Saxon Shore forts, such as Richborough, Pevensey and Portchester, were built to a new model with projecting bastions. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort

Why were they built?

  1. 37 Roman writers record that by the mid 3rd century Germanic raiders were regularly attacking the Channel coast on the continental side. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  2. 38 Roman writers make no mention of raids on Britain at that time. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  3. 39 The forts may have been built to defend Britain against Rome, rather than against Germanic raiders. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  4. 40 Archaeological dating suggests Carausius or Allectus are more likely to have built the later British forts. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  5. 41 In AD 286 Carausius, commander of the Roman Channel fleet, proclaimed himself emperor in Britain and northern Gaul. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  6. 42 His breakaway empire lasted until his successor, Allectus, was defeated in AD 296. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  7. 43 English Heritage’s Pevensey history says Carausius and Allectus had a strong motive to fortify the coast against reconquest by the central Roman government. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  8. 44 It may have been the emperor Constantine I who created the Saxon Shore command. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  9. 45 The first recorded raids on the British coast date from the 4th century. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  10. 46 The writer Ammianus Marcellinus first mentions Saxons affecting Britain in the AD 360s, including the “Great Conspiracy” of AD 367. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  11. 47 Count Theodosius entered Britain at Richborough and made London his base. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  12. 48 A senior Roman officer called Nectaridus, “count of the maritime region”, was killed or captured during the fighting. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  13. 49 Regular soldiers were taken from Britain bit by bit: in AD 383 under Magnus Maximus, and perhaps finally under Constantine III in AD 407. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  14. 50 The poet Claudian wrote that, thanks to General Stilicho, Britain need not “watch all along the shore for the arrival of the Saxon”. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  15. 51 Some forts seem to have worked as pairs, such as Reculver and Richborough at opposite ends of the Wantsum Channel. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  16. 52 Their sites could help them look after warships patrolling the coast and protect merchant ships and trade. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  17. 53 The garrisons listed in the Notitia are mainly infantry (soldiers on foot). English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  18. 54 Pieces of a Roman soldier’s helmet were found at Burgh Castle; that type of helmet came from the eastern borders of the Roman Empire. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  19. 55 English Heritage’s Pevensey history says it is not clear whether the forts were set up as one joined-up defensive system. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle

More forts, and across the Channel

  1. 56 Brancaster (Branodunum) guarded the approaches to the Wash; its remains are now almost entirely under the ground. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  2. 57 Brancaster has an arena for training cavalry horses, a rare find in Britain. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  3. 58 At Bradwell-on-Sea (Othona), the 7th-century chapel of St Peter-on-the-Wall stands on the site of the Roman fort’s west gate. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  4. 59 At Bradwell, the fort’s eastern wall has never been found. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  5. 60 At Dover (Dubris), a fort was built for the classis Britannica, a Roman fleet based in the English Channel. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  6. 61 Dover’s first fort was abandoned around AD 225, and a new fort was built about AD 270. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  7. 62 Lympne (Portus Lemanis), on Romney Marsh, was built as an irregular pentagon; landslips have broken and moved huge chunks of its wall. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  8. 63 Several sections of Lympne’s wall survive, up to 6 metres tall. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  9. 64 Walton Castle in Suffolk, another Roman fort, was destroyed by coastal erosion in the 18th century. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  10. 65 Walton Castle is not mentioned in the Notitia, but is of similar design to the later forts. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  11. 66 Portchester’s Roman fort originally had 20 D-shaped bastions jutting out from the walls, and 14 survive. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  12. 67 Pevensey’s walls form an irregular oval, enclosing 4 hectares. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  13. 68 Pevensey’s west wall survives almost to its full height of about 8 metres. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  14. 69 Burgh Castle has six projecting towers, possibly added later to the original design. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  15. 70 Caister was a fort of nearly 3.5 hectares, roughly square. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  16. 71 At Richborough, late Roman coins as late as AD 402 have been found. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  17. 72 A late Roman font, used for baptisms in a Christian church, was found inside the fort at Richborough. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  18. 73 An inscription from Reculver’s headquarters building, possibly from the AD 230s, mentions a man named Rufinus. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  19. 74 Oudenburg and Aardenburg, across the Channel, had probably first been built to fight off coastal raids by Germanic tribes. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  20. 75 The fort at Oudenburg was rebuilt in AD 325 to 330, with wall towers like those of the later British forts. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  21. 76 Portchester’s spot beside Portsmouth Harbour has hardly been changed by the sea since Roman times. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison

Portchester

  1. 77 English Heritage’s Portchester overview says it is the best-preserved Roman fort in northern Europe, the only one whose whole circuit of walls survives little altered. English Heritage: Portchester Castle, history and stories
  2. 78 English Heritage’s Portchester history calls it the best preserved Roman fort north of the Alps. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  3. 79 English Heritage’s Saxon Shore article says Portchester has the best-preserved Roman fort walls north of the Alps. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  4. 80 Portchester Castle stands at the north end of Portsmouth Harbour. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  5. 81 Portchester is the favoured candidate for the Roman Portus Adurni; the other candidate is the lost Walton Castle in Suffolk. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  6. 82 Coins recently found at Portchester date the fort to after about 268. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  7. 83 A reconstruction drawing on English Heritage’s Portchester history shows the fort being built, probably between AD 285 and 290. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  8. 84 English Heritage says there is no clear evidence for the date of the original fort at Portchester. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  9. 85 English Heritage says the fort may well have been founded by Carausius, appointed to command the Roman fleet in the Channel in about AD 285. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  10. 86 In AD 293 Carausius was assassinated by his deputy, Allectus. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  11. 87 Inside Portchester’s Roman walls there were timber houses and workshops, with animal pens, cesspits and rubbish heaps. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  12. 88 In 904 the Bishop of Winchester gave the fort to King Edward the Elder. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  13. 89 Portchester then became a burh, one of a series of fortified places that protected the kingdom from Viking attack. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  14. 90 After the Norman Conquest, a castle was built in one corner of the Roman fort at Portchester. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  15. 91 In 1415 Henry V launched his invasion of France from Portchester; it ended in his victory at Agincourt. English Heritage: Portchester Castle, history and stories
  16. 92 A royal palace was built at Portchester in the 1390s for Richard II. English Heritage: Portchester Castle, history and stories
  17. 93 From 1665 Portchester was used as a prisoner-of-war camp; between 1793 and 1815 it held up to 8,000 prisoners at a time. English Heritage: Portchester Castle, history and stories
  18. 94 French prisoners set up a theatre in Portchester’s keep in 1810. English Heritage: Portchester Castle, history and stories
  19. 95 Professor Barry Cunliffe directed major excavations at Portchester between 1961 and 1979. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  20. 96 In the 1920s and 1930s, many of the workmen who repaired Portchester’s walls were unemployed Welsh miners. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle
  21. 97 Portchester came into the care of English Heritage in 1984. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle

Richborough

  1. 98 The invading Roman army first came ashore at Richborough in AD 43. English Heritage: Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  2. 99 It is widely believed that Emperor Claudius’s invasion force of 40,000 men landed at Richborough in AD 43. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  3. 100 In Roman times Richborough was a small island; today it is 2 miles inland. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  4. 101 Richborough stood at the southern end of the Wantsum Channel, which then divided the Isle of Thanet from Kent. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  5. 102 The port town at Richborough was known across the Roman world as Rutupiae. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  6. 103 A mansio was an inn for messengers and officials on government business. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  7. 104 English Heritage’s Richborough history says the arch was 25 metres tall, covered in white Carrara marble from Italy. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  8. 105 English Heritage’s Richborough history says the arch was probably built sometime between AD 85 and AD 150. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  9. 106 English Heritage’s page on the arch says it was 26 metres high. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  10. 107 English Heritage’s page on the arch says the Romans built it in around AD 90. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  11. 108 The same page says recent analysis shows the arch could have been finished at any time between AD 90 and 150. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  12. 109 Analysis based on digs in the 1920s and 1930s suggested the arch was built under the emperor Domitian (AD 81 to 96). English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  13. 110 We may never know for sure which emperor ordered the arch. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  14. 111 The arch was a quadrifons: a rare kind of arch with four faces and four openings. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  15. 112 The arch weighed around 20,000 tonnes and stood on a stone foundation 9 metres deep. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  16. 113 The arch could be seen for miles out to sea, giving ships a landmark. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  17. 114 Most of the arch’s marble decoration was burned to make lime for the mortar of the fort’s walls. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  18. 115 The Tudor antiquarian John Leland explored a “cave” under the arch’s foundation by candlelight. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  19. 116 In 1843 a Mr Rolfe’s workmen spent two weeks digging 16 feet (5 metres) into solid masonry before giving up. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  20. 117 In 1968 Barry Cunliffe suggested that it was a four-way arch. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  21. 118 The Roman road known today as Watling Street started at the foot of the arch. English Heritage: Gateway to Britannia, Richborough’s Monumental Arch
  22. 119 Richborough’s amphitheatre arena was 62 metres long by 50 metres wide, with room for up to 5,000 people around it. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  23. 120 The arena probably held wild animal hunts with bulls, wild boars and bears. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  24. 121 Around AD 250, buildings in the middle of Richborough’s town were knocked down and replaced by a small fort. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  25. 122 English Heritage’s Richborough history says the stone fort was built sometime between AD 275 and 290. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  26. 123 English Heritage’s Saxon Shore article says the stone fort was built about AD 275 to 285. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison
  27. 124 Richborough may have been the last place in Britannia to which Roman coins were supplied. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  28. 125 Richborough saw over 360 years of Roman rule. English Heritage: Richborough Roman Fort, history and stories
  29. 126 A timber Roman gateway has been rebuilt on its exact spot at Richborough. English Heritage: Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  30. 127 Tens of thousands of coins have been found across the Richborough site. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre
  31. 128 English Heritage’s Richborough history says the Wantsum Channel was up to 2 miles wide and 10 miles long. English Heritage: History of Richborough Roman Fort and Amphitheatre

Pevensey

  1. 129 Coins from the time of Carausius and Allectus have been found in Pevensey’s wall foundations. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  2. 130 Tree-ring dating of wooden posts under Pevensey’s walls suggests the fort was built in about AD 290. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  3. 131 Pevensey was the biggest of the Roman “Saxon Shore” fortresses. English Heritage: Pevensey Castle
  4. 132 Pevensey’s Roman walls are more than 500 metres (1,640 feet) long. English Heritage: Pevensey Castle
  5. 133 The Roman fort at Pevensey was called Anderida. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  6. 134 Pevensey’s D-shaped wall towers were a new feature of Roman forts at the time. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  7. 135 The Notitia mentions a fleet, the classis Anderidaensis, named after Anderida. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  8. 136 English Heritage’s Pevensey history says Anderida was one of nine forts around the south and east coasts commanded by the Count of the Saxon Shore. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  9. 137 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 471 the fort at Pevensey was besieged. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  10. 138 William the Conqueror landed at Pevensey on 28 September 1066. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  11. 139 William’s invading fleet had between 700 and 1,000 ships. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  12. 140 William built a temporary fort, almost certainly inside the Roman walls. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  13. 141 The siege of Pevensey in 1264 to 1265 was the longest siege in medieval England. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  14. 142 In 1940 Pevensey was used again, with machine-gun posts cleverly hidden in its walls. English Heritage: Pevensey Castle
  15. 143 In the Second World War the new defences at Pevensey were made to blend in with the old walls. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  16. 144 In 1925 the Duke of Devonshire gave Pevensey Castle to the State. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle
  17. 145 The sea is now a mile from Pevensey, but in about AD 300 it came right up to the walls in places. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle

Burgh Castle

  1. 146 Burgh Castle Roman Fort is one of the best-preserved Roman monuments in the country. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  2. 147 English Heritage’s Burgh Castle history says it was built in the late 3rd century AD, on a low cliff above the Waveney estuary. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  3. 148 English Heritage’s Caister page says Burgh Castle was built sometime after AD 260. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort
  4. 149 Burgh Castle was probably abandoned just over a hundred years after it was built. English Heritage: Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  5. 150 The Notitia says Burgh’s garrison was the Stablesian cavalry unit. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  6. 151 Burgh and Caister probably worked together, and one or both were known to the Romans as Gariannonum. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  7. 152 English Heritage’s Burgh Castle history says that in AD 367 the Saxons, Picts and Scots made a joint attack on Britain, and the forts began to be overrun. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  8. 153 Bede records that in about AD 630 Sigeberht, King of the East Angles, gave land inside a Roman fortress to St Fursa to found a monastery. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  9. 154 That place, Cnobheresburh, may have been Burgh Castle, but Caister is also a likely candidate. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  10. 155 Burgh Castle enclosed about 2.4 hectares (6 acres). English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  11. 156 Burgh’s walls were about 3.5 metres wide at the base, narrowing to 1.5 metres at their full height of about 4.5 metres. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  12. 157 Each of Burgh’s towers has a round hole in the middle, either for fixing catapults called ballistae or to hold up wooden watchtowers. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  13. 158 At Burgh, one tower has fallen outward from the south wall. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  14. 159 Burgh’s walls were faced inside and out with cut flint and tile in alternating bands. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  15. 160 Burgh’s west wall tumbled into the marshes long ago. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  16. 161 After the Norman Conquest, Burgh was used as a motte-and-bailey castle. English Heritage: History of Burgh Castle Roman Fort
  17. 162 Burgh Castle is managed by Norfolk Archaeological Trust. English Heritage: Burgh Castle Roman Fort

Caister

  1. 163 English Heritage’s Caister page says the fort was built about AD 200, as a base for a unit of the Roman army and navy. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort
  2. 164 Caister had a garrison of between 500 and 1,000 men. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort
  3. 165 Finds at Caister include charred grain, fish bones and over 10,000 oyster shells. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort
  4. 166 Brooches, beads, bracelets and hairpins found at Caister suggest women and children lived in the fort. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort
  5. 167 The estuary Caister looked over is now mostly dry land, covered by Great Yarmouth. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort
  6. 168 By the 4th century, raiders “came silently in fast ships”, says English Heritage. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort
  7. 169 Parts of Caister fort were uncovered by archaeologists between 1951 and 1955. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort

Reculver

  1. 170 English Heritage’s Reculver history says the fort dates from the early 3rd century AD. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  2. 171 Reculver was one of the very earliest Saxon Shore forts, and traditional in its plan. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  3. 172 Reculver fort measured 180 metres by 175 metres. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  4. 173 About half of Reculver fort has been lost to coastal erosion. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  5. 174 An Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded inside Reculver fort in 669. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  6. 175 Reculver church’s tall twin towers were added in the 12th century. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  7. 176 The church was partly knocked down in 1809, leaving the towers as a sea-mark for ships. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  8. 177 2,000 tons of the church’s stone were sold and used to build Margate Harbour. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  9. 178 In 1540 the sea was still a quarter of a mile north of Reculver. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  10. 179 Reculver had four gateways, one in the middle of each side. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  11. 180 Digs between 1959 and 1969 found barracks, a bath-house and the headquarters building at Reculver. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  12. 181 English Heritage’s Reculver history says the Wantsum was a sea channel up to 3 miles wide. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  13. 182 Reculver’s wall would once have been topped with a wall walk and a parapet. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  14. 183 Reculver’s flint walls were backed with earth banks and surrounded by two ditches 10 metres wide. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  15. 184 Conservation work took place at Reculver in 2023 to protect it for the future. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort
  16. 185 Reculver’s towers act as a navigation marker for ships at sea. English Heritage: Reculver Towers and Roman Fort

The national curriculum in England

  1. 186 At KS2, pupils in England study “the Roman Empire and its impact on Britain”; one non-statutory example is “successful invasion by Claudius and conquest, including Hadrian’s Wall”. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  2. 187 For Britain’s settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots, one non-statutory example is “Roman withdrawal from Britain in c. AD 410 and the fall of the western Roman Empire”. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  3. 188 The curriculum names concepts such as continuity and change, cause and consequence, similarity, difference and significance. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  4. 189 Pupils should understand how evidence is used to make claims, and why there are different accounts of the past. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  5. 190 At KS3, pupils in England study “an aspect or theme in British history that consolidates and extends pupils’ chronological knowledge from before 1066”. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study
  6. 191 The words “Saxon Shore” do not appear in the national curriculum in England. Department for Education: National curriculum in England, history programmes of study