- Richborough is a village near Sandwich in Kent in the South East Region of England.
- It is the location for one of the Saxon Shore Forts called Rutupiae, founded in c. 43 CE, which was the official entry point into Roman Britannia from Gaul.
History
- The Saxon Shore Forts were a chain of Roman Naval Forts in southeastern England that stretched from Portchester to the Wash, whose function was to defend the River estuaries and coastline from Pirate attacks by seaborne invaders.
- The Forts date to the third century CE and are mentioned in a 4th century CE document known as the Notitia Dignitatum.
Roman Sites
- Richborough Roman Fort
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- Amphitheatre and Walls
- The site is managed by English Heritage.
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Roman Roads
- Watling Street
- Iter II
- same route as Watling Street.
Antonine Itinerary (c.160 CE)
- Iter II
- Hadrian's Wall–York–Chester– Watling Street–London-Richborough.
Notitia Dignitatum (c.400 CE)
- Richborough is described as the Official Point of Entry to and from Gaul
- The Notitia Dignitatum states that Richborough (Rutupiae) was the official point of entry into Britannia from Boulogne (Gesoriacum), and that the distance was 450 stades or 56 Roman miles.
- Entry was through a Triumphal Arch inside the Fortress, and then up to London via Watling Street (the modern A2).
- To get to Richborough, a ferry was taken across the ‘Fretum Gallicum’, the Straits of Dover, from the Fortress of Boulogne in Gaul.
Via Belgica
- The Via Belgica was the Roman Road from Boulogne to Cologne on the Rhine.
- In 71 CE, the Legio XIV Gemina, based in Wroxeter, are recorded as marching along the Via Belgica when they left Britannia to quell the Batavian Revolt in Germania Inferior.
- They would have marched from Wroxeter along Watling Street to Richborough, before sailing to Boulogne, and marching along the Via Belgica to Cologne.
Richborough