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Monument details
| HER Number: | TR 34 SW 1742 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Projected line of the Roman Saxon Shore Fort walls and bastions, Dover. |
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Summary
During a series of extensive rescue excavations, ahead of development in Dover’s town centre undertaken by Kent Archaeological Rescue unit a series of features relating to the late Roman Saxon Shore Fort were excavated and recorded. Long lengths of both the south and western defensive walls of the Shore fort were located at various sites during these excavations. In all 95m of the south wall was traced and about 105m of the west wall though both were clearly longer. Alongside the walling a number of bastions were also located, three along the west wall, spaced at intervals of 30m and a further three along the south wall, again separated by 30m. From this we may make an assumption about the locations of the north and east walls of the fort and the unexcavated bastions. (location accurate to the nearest 2m based on available information)
| Grid Reference: | TR 3190 4142 |
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| Map Sheet: | TR34SW |
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| Parish: | DOVER, DOVER, KENT |
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Monument Types
- BASTION (Bastions of the Roman Saxon Shore fort, Roman - 270 AD to 330 AD)
- WALL (Saxon Shore fort walls, Roman - 270 AD to 330 AD)
Full description
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During a series of extensive rescue excavations, ahead of development in Dover’s town centre undertaken by Kent Archaeological Rescue unit a series of features relating to the late Roman Saxon Shore Fort were excavated and recorded. Long lengths of both the south and western defensive walls of the Shore fort were located at various sites during these excavations. In all 95m of the south wall was traced and about 105m of the west wall though both were clearly longer. Alongside the walling a number of bastions were also located, three along the west wall, spaced at intervals of 30m and a further three along the south wall, again separated by 30m. From this we may make an assumption about the locations of the north and east walls of the fort and the unexcavated bastions.
It is likely that the west wall extends beyond bastion number 4 which was uncovered during excavations at the ‘Painted House’ site to at least one more bastion, in the forts north-west corner. The same is true for the south wall, it is likely to have extended from the easternmost bastion, uncovered at the Gaol Lane site, to another at the south-east corner of the fort. If the spacing remained consistent between all of the bastions this would place the north-west corner bastion beneath the buildings lining the south side of New Street, while the south-east would be located just to the west of the buildings fronting the east side of King Street. (1)
Various other small scale investigations along the presumed line of the eastern wall of the fort revealed a number of Roman features which may now, with the town centre rescue excavation programme information available, be interpreted as being part of the fort walls and bastions. (2)
<1> Brian Philp, The Discovery and Excavation of the Roman Shore Fort at Dover, Kent (Monograph). SKE32061.
<2> E. G. J. Amos and R. E. M. Wheeler, 1929, Archaeological journal: The Saxon Shore fortress at Dover Vol. 86 (Article in serial). SKE31895.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | <1> | Monograph: Brian Philp. The Discovery and Excavation of the Roman Shore Fort at Dover, Kent. |
| <2> | Article in serial: E. G. J. Amos and R. E. M. Wheeler. 1929. Archaeological journal: The Saxon Shore fortress at Dover Vol. 86. Vol. 86 pp. 47-58. |
Related records
| TR 34 SW 1688 | Parent of: Bastion (No 1) of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Car park site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1699 | Parent of: Bastion (No 14) of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Gaol Lane site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1689 | Parent of: Bastion (No 2) of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Burial Ground site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1704 | Parent of: Bastion (No 3) of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Woodstore site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1740 | Parent of: Bastion (No 4) of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Painted House site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1693 | Parent of: Bastion (No. 15) of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the B.M.W site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1199 | Parent of: Part of one of the external towers (bastion) on the late Roman Saxon Shore Fort wall (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1198 | Parent of: Part of the Late Roman Saxon Shore Fort wall, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1692 | Parent of: Section of the southern wall of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the B.M.W site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1697 | Parent of: Section of the southern wall of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Car Park site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1698 | Parent of: Section of the southern wall of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Gaol Lane site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1696 | Parent of: Section of the southern wall of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Warehouse South site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1686 | Parent of: Section of the west wall of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, Car Park and Cause is Altered sites Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 1690 | Parent of: Section of the western wall of the late Roman Saxon Shore fort, located at the Burial Ground site, Dover (Monument) |
| TR 34 SW 100 | Part of: Site of a Roman Saxon Shore Fort (3rd-4th century), Dover (Monument) |
