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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