A bastion in the wall of the Saxon Shore Fort.
Towards the end of the third century AD
the ever increasing Saxon raids, necessitated the strengthening
of the coastal defences. Around AD 270, Roman army units
moved into Dover to construct a new “Fort of the Saxon Shore”.
They ignored the old Classis
Britannica Fort and built anew, although the corners
of the two forts did overlap. The new fort enclosed a number
of civilian buildings to the north of the earlier fort and
the west wall went straight through the west end of the
Painted House.
Over 1000 feet of the south and west wall of the fort have
been traced. The massive defensive wall was nearly 10 feet
thick, reinforced at intervals along its length by great
stone bastions and a ditch nearly 40 feet wide and 10 feet
deep. Within the walls have been found the remains of at
least 11 timber built structures, metalled roads and a postern
gate with footbridge. It also appears that the military
bath-house dating from about AD 140-160 was reused within
the walls of the fort which now enclosed it.
The fort seems to have been occupied at least until the
first half of the 5th century and there is some evidence
of occupation into the 6th century.
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