Following on from last month’s column, here of south-east England: a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel that were established in the late 3rd century AD to defend Britain against the incursions of Saxon raiders. In CA 433, I visited the four northerly sites – this month I complete the set with their five southerly counterparts.
RUTUPIAE, RICHBOROUGH, KENT
Rutupiae is situated in Richborough, near Sandwich, originally positioned near a large natural harbour in the Wantsum Channel and the mouth of the River Stour, although the site is now 4km (2.5 miles) inland of the current coastline. It is part of a larger Roman town that developed around the port before evolving into the later shore fort. As at nearby Reculver, Richborough’s significance means it has been investigated from the 1920s onwards, most recently in the early 2000s. Its earliest mention in Current Archaeology is an intriguing one: CA 3 (July 1967) reported on two temples of the Romano-Celtic type that were deliberately destroyed there in the mid-4th century AD – evidence perhaps of the arrival of Christianity (an event that is possibly also expressed through gentler means at Brancaster fort in Norfolk where, we noted last month, a 4th-century ring bearing a Christian inscription was found).
Richborough was, like Reculver, well placed to connect along the Wantsum Channel with its wealthy farming hinterland at sites like the villa at Minster-in-Thanet (CA 193, August 2004), and it is the only one of the nine forts to have received in-depth analysis by Current Archaeology. CA 257 (August 2011), visiting at the time of a survey, shows it to have been a thriving port town by the 2nd century AD, which had its own amphitheatre sited within a comprehensive city grid, and CA 382 (January 2022) followed up on this, reporting on finds from the amphitheatre itself. Another marker of Richborough’s wealth and prominence comes in a piece from CA 386 (May 2022) on Roman triumphal arches: the site is home to one of only two such constructions known in the country, which was built around AD 85. (The other arch is from early 3rd-century London.) Most recently, CA 399 (June 2023) returned to see the fruits of this research come together in the then-recently reinterpreted site and new museum, making Richborough the undoubted star of the Saxon Shore.
DUBRIS, DOVER, KENT
Dubris was sited at the estuary of the River Dour, where a natural harbour formed in ancient times, and developed into a major port that was a significant base of the Classis Britannica – the Roman fleet in British waters. Around the port grew a town with substantial official buildings, including a mansio (a hostel for government officials), parts of which were demolished c.AD 270 for the construction of the shore fort as Dover began to evolve into a military base. Buried remains of the mansio and its wall paintings survived, however, and these were rediscovered during the construction of a bypass in the 1970s; they are now preserved as the Roman Painted House museum. This fieldwork fits into the wider history of archaeological investigation across Dover, including the discovery nearby of a Bronze Age boat (see my column in CA 420, March 2025), and the history of the castle overlooking the town (see CA 255, June 2011, and CA 420, August 2021). Early editions of Current Archaeology tell the story of this era of rescue archaeology, with investigations carried out at speed in the face of development in the days, pre-legislation, when archaeology was a luxury, not a necessity – see, for example, CA 23 (November 1970), CA 25 (March 1971), CA 28 (September 1971), CA 38 (May 1973), and CA 40 (September 1973). Later reporting by the magazine then tells a similar tale to other fort sites: of research beyond the immediate boundaries of each site telling a broader tale of their interconnections, including, in the case of Dover, a richly appointed Roman villa near Folkestone with links to the Classis Britannica (CA 262, January 2012); the fort’s supply-chain into the Wealden iron industry (CA 336, March 2018); and its links to Saxon settlements at Buckland and Lyminge (CA 144, August 1995, and CA 272, November 2012).
PORTUS LEMANIS, PORT LYMPNE, KENT
Portus Lemanis is near the modern-day village of Lympne, between Hythe and Dymchurch on the south Kent coast. The fort stood on a hill overlooking a reach of the sea, which has since drained to form Romney Marsh, with a harbour to the south and east. After Othona/Bradwell (which we discussed last month), Port Lympne is the least known of the nine forts, although it underwent limited investigation by Barry Cunliffe following his work at Portchester Castle (see CA 50, December 1975) and has some upstanding remains, including parts of the rampart; the entire south side, however, is missing due to erosion. The only significant mention of the site comes in CA 336 (March 2018), in an article on the Wealden iron industry, where the scale of finds from this site – commensurate to those from Richborough and Dover – demonstrate its significance both as a Saxon Shore fort and as a regular stopping-off point of the Classis Britannica, as evidenced by a number of tiles stamped with the abbreviation ‘CLBR’.
ANDERITUM, PEVENSEY, EAST SUSSEX
Anderitum adjoins the western end of the modern-day village of Pevensey to the east of Eastbourne, built on a peninsula of land rising above the coastal marshes, which surround the site on three sides and give it a safe and sheltered landing point. With its upstanding Roman and later remains, Pevensey has been investigated on repeated occasions, most recently between 1993 and 1995 by Michael Fulford and Stephen Rippon. CA 336 (March 2018) emphasises the site’s significance based on the scale of its finds linked to the Wealden iron industry, and there is also an interesting insight into its farming hinterland in CA 423 (June 2025), reporting on fieldwork around Barcombe (north of Lewes), which lies 32km (20 miles) to the north-west of Pevensey and is linked by excellent road connections. The fort was eventually abandoned after it was sacked c.AD 471/491, only to be reinhabited by Saxons (see CA 92, June 1984, and CA 229, April 2009, for more on its strategic role at this time). In the 11th century, the Normans built a castle in the east end of the fort – a site so significant that it is named on the Bayeux Tapestry (see CA 224, November 2008).
PORTUS ADURNI, PORTCHESTER, HAMPSHIRE
Portus Adurni occupies a commanding position at the head of Portsmouth Harbour, surrounded by the modern-day village of Portchester and overlain, from the 11th century onwards, by a medieval fortress. The site is arguably the best-known of all nine shore forts thanks to work led by Barry Cunliffe in the 1960s and 1970s, and it is the only one of the forts to appear as a CA cover story, not once but three times – in CA 4 (September 1967), CA 30 (January 1972), and CA 187 (August 2003). That first visit traced the history of the site from Roman fort to medieval fortress, explaining how the 1960s excavations outlined its basic chronology, then CA 30 returned with more detailed phasing of its settlement across the 3rd to 9th centuries AD. The wider connections of this community are also highlighted as they are at other shore forts; in this case, pottery from Portchester turns up at the Saxon settlement of Charlton on the modern Hampshire/Sussex border, as reported in CA 37 (June 1973), while the later (Saxon) settlement is similar to that at Bishopstone, near Seaford in East Sussex (CA 196, March 2005). Those interested in the later history of the site should have a look at CA 339 (June 2018), which references Portchester’s use in the 18th and 19th centuries as a military prison, including for French, American, and other prisoners of war, the remains of some of whom were excavated by Barry back in the 1960s.
All the forts have elements that can be visited as follows: www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/richborough-roman-fort-and-amphitheatre; www.dovermuseum.co.uk/Roman-Painted-House/Roman-Painted-House.aspx; www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/dover-castle; www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/pevensey-castle; and www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/portchester-castle. Portus Lemanis/Lympne is on private land, which is accessible by public footpath (there is no dedicated website for it).
