Things people “know” about the Saxon Shore forts

Myth The forts were built to keep out Saxon pirates, and everyone agrees.

Fact 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 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

Myth The Romans always called them the Saxon Shore forts.

Fact 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 We don’t know why the Notitia uses the name “Saxon Shore”. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison

Myth All the forts were built at the same time.

Fact 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 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

Myth They were all built to the same plan.

Fact Brancaster, Caister and Reculver have “playing card” plans: rectangular, with rounded corners. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison 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

Myth Only soldiers lived inside.

Fact At Portchester, women and children lived inside the fort alongside the soldiers. English Heritage: Roman Coastal Defences and the Saxon Shore, by Paul Pattison Brooches, beads, bracelets and hairpins found at Caister suggest women and children lived in the fort. English Heritage: History of Caister Roman Fort

Myth The Saxon Shore was only in Britain.

Fact 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

Myth Everyone agrees when Portchester was built.

Fact English Heritage says there is no clear evidence for the date of the original fort at Portchester. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle 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

Myth The sea has left the forts alone.

Fact About half of Reculver fort has been lost to coastal erosion. English Heritage: History of Reculver Towers and Roman Fort 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

Myth Nobody used the forts after the Romans left.

Fact In 904 the Bishop of Winchester gave the fort to King Edward the Elder. English Heritage: History of Portchester Castle William the Conqueror landed at Pevensey on 28 September 1066. English Heritage: History of Pevensey Castle

Myth “Saxon” meant just one tribe.

Fact 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