Saxon Shore Forts

• The Saxon Shore Forts were a chain of Roman Naval Forts in southeastern England that stretched from Portchester to the Wash. Their 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 document known as the Notitia Dignitatum.

History

• Notitia Dignitatum
  • Nine of the Forts are mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum, written in the fourth century CE.
  • The document lists all the civil and military posts in the Roman Empire.
• The Classis Britannica CLBR
  • This was the Roman Navy in Britain which built the Forts and operated the vessels.
• Count of the Saxon Shore
  • The Commander was the Count of the Saxon Shore, the ‘Comes Littoris Saxonici’.

Location of the Forts

• The Nine ports recorded in the Notitia Dignitatum began at Portsmouth Harbour and ran round the coast to the Wash.
• Four ports are not mentioned in the Notitia Dignitatum but nonetheless existed at the same time. They are Aldeburgh, Dunwich, Walton Castle and Caistor on Sea.
  1. Portchester Hampshire (Portus Adurni)
     • Guarding Portsmouth Harbour.
  2. Pevensey East Sussex (Anderitum)
     • Originally on a promontory defending a huge natural inland harbour bay. (Now inland and silted up).
  3. Lympne Kent (Portus Lemanis)
     • Guarding the coastline between Pevensey and Dover (Now inland and silted up).
  4. Dover Kent (Dubris)
     • Guarding the Strait of Dover.
  5. Richborough Kent (Rutupiae)
     • Guarding the R. Stour to Canterbury and the island of Thanet.
  6. Reculver Kent (Regulbium)
     • Guarding the Thames Estuary.
  7. Bradwell-on-Sea
     • St. Peter’s Chapel, Essex (Othona) guarding the River Blackwater estuary.
  8. Aldeburgh
     • In Old English, ‘Olde Burgh’ means Old Fort, which may refer to a Roman Fort defending the entrance to the River Alde Estuary.
     • Today there is a more modern fort nearby, a Martello Tower.
     • Sir Francis Drake’s the ‘Golden Hind’ was also built here, when there was a thriving Tudor shipbuilding industry.
  9. Dunwich (Suffolk)
     • It was a natural deep water port, which is now lost to the Sea. It was still an important Port during the Medieval Period.
     • Several old Roman roads fan out from Dunwich.
  10. Walton Castle
      • Now lost to the Sea, it guarded the estuaries of the River Orwell, River Stour and River Deben.
  11. Caistor-on-Sea
      • On the opposite river bank to Burgh Castle, it also guarded the entrance to the Norfolk Broads.
  12. Burgh Castle (Gariannonum)
      • On the River Yare guarding the Norfolk Broads and Caistor St Edmund (Venta Icenorum).
  13. Brancaster (Branodunum)
      • Guarding the entrance to the Wash.

Forts built in a similar style

• Other Forts were built in the same style and period as the Saxon Shore Forts, but are not listed as part of them as they are not in the southeast:
  • Cardiff Roman Fort
  • Caer Gibi Roman Fort in Anglesey.
  • Lancaster.

Saxon Shore Forts in Northern France and Belgium

• According to the Notitia Dignitatum, the Saxon Shore Fort system may have extended to both sides of the English Channel.
• Boulogne was a Roman naval harbour for the Classis Britannica which had its own Roman Lighthouse.

Legacy

• There are similarities with the Medieval Cinque Ports in Kent and East Sussex.
• This was a military confederation of towns that was obligated to ‘Defend the Coast’ and supply ships and men to the Crown each year, between 1155-c.1500 CE.

St Peter’s Chapel, Bradwell on Sea (Othona)