Saxon Shore Forts

The Saxon Shore Forts is the collective name given to a system of forts ("castra") built along the east and south-east coast of what is now England, during the latter centuries of the Roman occupation of Britain, as part of the wider fortification network known of the Saxon Shore, which extended across the Channel.

The forts

The forts are:
*Portus Adurni - Portchester Castle
*Anderida – Pevensey
*Portus Lemanis – Lympne
*Dubris – Dover
*Rutupiae – Richborough
*Regulbium – Reculver
*Othona – Bradwell-on-Sea
*Gariannonum – Burgh Castle
*Branodunum – Brancaster

Our knowledge of this system of fortresses comes from the "Notitia Dignitatum", which names the commander as the "Comes Litoris Saxonici per Britanniam" (Count of the Saxon Shore in Britain), and gives the respective complement of military personnel at each site. They were probably built in the late third century, at a time when Carausius was in rebellion against Rome. Carausius had, however, been originally appointed to defeat piracy in the narrow seas, and their construction was in line with general imperial policy.

Further north on the coast, the precautions took the form of central depots at Lincoln and Malton with roads radiating to coastal signal stations. When an alert was relayed to the base, troops could be dispatched along the road. The Lincoln out-station at "Salinae" could receive signals from "Branodunum".

Francis Pryor [Britain AD] has suggested that the Saxon Shore was so called as it referred to the people inhabiting it, ie early English. The shore forts are described as completely unsuitable for defence of the Southern shores, however they are what is expected of prestigious Ports with much trade coming in. The people of the Saxon shore shared a close affinity with those people to their South in Roman Belgica with whom they may have shared a non-Celtic language.

References

External links

* [http://www.forumancientcoins.com/historia/sites/pevensey/pevensey.htm History of the Pevensey Castle]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/branodunum.htm Site on the fort of "Branodunum" from "Roman Britain"]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/gariannum.htm Site on the fort of "Gariannonum" from "Roman Britain"]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/othona.htm Site on the fort of "Othona" from "Roman Britain"]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/regulbium.htm Site on the fort of "Regulbium" from "Roman Britain"]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/rutupiae.htm Site on the fort of "Rutupiae" from "Roman Britain"]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/portus_dubris.htm Site on the fort of "Portus Dubris" from "Roman Britain"]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/portus_lemanis.htm Site on the fort of "Portus Lemanis" from "Roman Britain"]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/anderitum.htm Site on the fort of "Anderitum" from "Roman Britain"]
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/places/portus_ardaoni.htm Site on the fort of "Portus Adurni" from "Roman Britain"]