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A careful examination of the fortresses which protected the line of coast to which reference has been made, is likely, we think, to afford some light upon the above-mentioned point.

If we pay attention to the plans of these fortresses, it will be obvious that at least two, Reculver and Brancaster, belong to a type of Roman fortress which is associated with a period much earlier than the time, as far as we know, when Saxon or other raiders began to molest the coasts of Britain and Gaul. Perhaps it is significant that these two castra command the entrance to two of the great water ways on our east coast, the Thames and the Wash. The other seven fortresses, judging from their plans, belong to a later stage of development in Roman military architecture.

From this and other features already described we may infer that the whole series of fortresses was built at different periods, and probably in the following order:

Reculver.	Richborough.
Brancaster.	Lymne.
Porchester.	Pevensey.

Unfortunately, the architectural remains of the remaining castra are not sufficiently perfect to allow of classification.

One or two of the coast fortresses, such as Pevensey and Lymne, may well have been erected towards the close of the Roman occupation. It is significant that tiles bearing the impressed name of Honorius have been found built into the walls of Pevensey, pointing to the lateness of the building of at least some of the masonry at that castrum.[3]

At Lymne early inscriptions, etc. have been found built into the walls, indicating a period if not late in the Roman period, at least a considerable time after the date of the inscribed stones which were enclosed, as mere building material, in the walls. This is corroborated by indications of adhering barnacles, from which we may fairly conclude that there was a period of submergence between the time of the carving and the subsequent use as building material.

It seems probable, therefore, that although the earlier fortresses may have been intended to serve as centres for the Roman army, they may have been supplemented at a later period by other castra, forming altogether a chain of defences intended to protect the shores of Britain against Saxon invaders.

The late Mr. G. E. Fox, F.S.A., who made a special study of the subject, writes as follows:[4]

“By the last quarter of the third century the Romano-British fleet, on which no doubt dependence had been placed for the protection of the east and south coasts from raids by plundering bands of rovers from over the seas, had evidently failed to afford that protection. Whether it was that the fleet was not numerous enough, or for whatever reason, the Roman government determined to supplement its first line of defence by a second, and this was achieved by the erection of forts capable of holding from 500 to 1,000 men each, on points of the coast-line extending from the mouth of the Wash to Pevensey on the coast of Sussex. The coast-line indicated received the name of Litus Saxonicum, and the nine fortresses which guarded it are called ‘the forts of the Saxon Shore.’ ”

The following were the nine fortresses referred to with the modern place-names:

1.	Branodunum.	Brancaster.
2.	Gariannonum.	Burgh Castle (near Yarmouth).
3.	Othona.	Bradwell-on-Sea.
4.	Regulbium.	Reculver.
5.	Rutupiae.	Richborough.
6.	Dubris.	Dover.
7.	Portus Lemanus.	Lymne.
8.	Anderida.	Pevensey.
9.	Portus Magnus.	? Porchester.

It will be observed that the various fortresses in this chain of defensive works occur at irregular distances on or near the coast-line, and on examination it will be found that in most cases good reason exists for the selection of the various sites.