The port of Dover.

Topography

The port of Dover lies on the coast of south-east England beside the English Channel, within sight of and at the nearest point to France. It is situated at the mouth of the River Dour in a deep narrow valley between high chalk hills. As the sea level has been rising relative to the land since the last Ice Age, thereby forming high cliffs, the exact position of the coastline in prehistoric and Roman times is not known.

Historical development

Dover as a town was created in Roman times, in the first century AD. Before that there was occupation of the area in prehistoric times, and particularly in the Bronze Age, about 1600-1000 BC, when there was a maritime use of the river valley and the coast. A well-preserved Bronze Age plank-built boat was found in the river valley associated with a fresh-water environment, and in the sea was a large concentration of bronze artefacts suggesting the site of a wreck, though it is possible that it was a hoard of weapons and tools that had once been on land and had fallen into the sea due to erosion.

The Roman port was named DUBRIS and may have been a landing site of the Roman invasion of Britain by the Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Archaeological evidence is absent, however, and an actual landing base has been found nearby at Richborough.

Dover was a very important Roman government crossing point to the European mainland and it was heavily defended by the Roman navy, the Classis Britannica, who had built forts there in the late 1^st and 2^nd centuries.

These were superseded in the late 3^rd century by a Saxon Shore fort, one of a number of later Roman coastal forts around south-eastern England, suggesting that it was the base of a naval fleet that operated during the 4^th century until the end of the Roman period in the early 5^th century.

Research

Very limited archaeological research in Dover has occurred in the distant past, and these alone do not give a clear picture of the topography of the Roman port. From 1970 onwards a major programme of excavation, particularly by Brian Philp but also by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, has transformed our understanding of the port. The Classis Britannica forts with its barracks, the Saxon Shore fort and the medieval defences have all been found. Little new work has occurred on the waterfront structures, however, so the harbour works remain largely unknown.

Defences

The defences of Dover fall into two types: Roman and medieval fortresses, and a medieval town wall recently excavated near the seafront. The Roman forts lay at the bottom of the river valley close to the sea, and the medieval fortress, Dover Castle, lies on top of the high eastern hill.

There are two phases of Classis Britannica fort, each surrounded by a defensive stone wall rectangular in plan with rounded corners like a normal Roman military fort. The first fort was unfinished and was probably built not earlier than the late 1^st century AD.

The second phase of Classis Britannica fort was built on the same site about AD 130-140, and was finally abandoned about AD 210. Inside its defenses were rows of buildings beside a grid of streets.

The forts include many bricks and tiles stamped CL.BR in their construction.

The Saxon Shore fort also had a stone defensive wall, but was built in the late 3^rd century. The complete shape of that fort has not yet been revealed.

Waterfronts

The shape of the Roman harbour is not known. Remains of Roman timber structures have been found in the bottom of the valley suggesting that there was a harbour at the mouth of the River Dour, with a quayside on the river bank. Structures include a possible harbour arm, found in 1855, which may have been about 4m wide, built from squared timbers in a box-like construction.

The possible quay with an embankment wall of chalk blocks was found elsewhere, and on yet another site was a possible jetty also of chalk blocks. All possibly date from the late 1^st - 2^nd centuries AD.

Lighthouses

On top of each of the east and west hills overlooking the valley was a Roman lighthouse (pharos), the eastern one mostly having survived inside the medieval Dover Castle where its upper works were rebuilt in medieval times. Both lighthouses, when alight at night, may have been visible from the French coast and certainly could guide ships crossing the English Channel at night.

The eastern lighthouse is an octagonal tower 11m wide whose surviving Roman structure is 13.1m high. It is built of stone with courses of Roman bonding tiles. It rises in four stages, each originally with a timber floor with a window facing the sea. Its original height is unknown.

The western lighthouse was destroyed long ago, and its site has not been archaeologically investigated in recent times.

These lighthouses matched a tall Roman lighthouse that once stood in Boulogne where the Classis Britannica seem to have had their headquarters.

Bibliography

Philp, B, The excavation of the Roman forts of the Classis Britannica at Dover 1970-1977. Publ. by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover Castle, Kent, 1981.

Rigold, S, "The Roman haven of Dover", Archaeological Journal CXXVI, 1969, pp. 78-99.

Wheeler, R, "The Roman lighthouse at Dover", Archaeological Journal LXXXVI (second series XXXVI), 1929, pp. 29-46.

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