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:

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.

1. Branodunum

There is sufficient evidence to identify the Roman fort of Branodunum with some ruins lying to the east of Brancaster, a village situated near the north-western corner of Norfolk, on the shores of the Wash. The only early mention of the place is found in the “Notitia Imperii,” a catalogue of the distribution of the imperial military, naval, and civilian officers throughout the Roman world. From this remarkable work, a compilation which has come down to us from a very early period, it appears that the “Comes Littoris Saxonici” (the Count of the Saxon Shore) had under him nine subordinate officers, called Praepositi, distributed round the coasts of Norfolk, Essex, Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire. The fortress at Brancaster is now in a very much ruined state, and but little can be gathered of its original form from a casual or superficial examination. Excavations and careful searches made about the middle of the nineteenth century brought to light many facts about its plan.[5] The fortress was a square of 190 yards and the angles were irregularly rounded. Exclusive of ashlar, the walls were found to be 10 feet thick, and bounded with large blocks of white sandstone. At one of the roughly rounded angles the ashlar facing remained intact. It consisted of blocks of sandstone firmly set in mortar with joints of three inches minimum thickness.

Traces were found within the walls of small apartments adjoining the main walls into which the smaller walls were regularly bonded, pointing to contemporaneity of the work.

Two facts of some importance are proved by the excavations, viz. (1) the strength of the fortress as a defensive work, and (2) the simple and early character of the plan. Traces of gates were observed in the eastern and western walls.

2. Gariannonum

FIG. 1. GARIANNONUM (BURGH CASTLE)

Now known as Burgh Castle, is situated in Suffolk near the point where the rivers Yare and Waveney fall into Breydon Water. The lines of its walls enclose a space, roughly speaking, 660 feet by 330 feet, over four acres. It is generally considered to be one of the most perfect Roman buildings remaining in the kingdom. The walls in places remain to a height of 9 feet, and their foundations are no less than 12 feet in thickness. The bastions, or perhaps more correctly, towers, which flank the gates and support the rounded angles of the walls are of peculiar, pear-shaped plan. They are solid, and to the height of about 7 feet are not tied into the walls. Above that height, however, they are bonded into the walls with which, curious as it may appear, they are undoubtedly coeval. It is noteworthy that there are two bastions on the east side and one each on the north and south sides, and that they, six in all, are provided with a hole in the top, 2 feet wide and 2 feet deep, indicating in all probability that they once mounted turntables upon which ballistae were placed for the defence of the fortress.