| Regulbium | |
|---|---|
 Remains of the perimeter wall of Regulbium Roman Fort | |
  Location in Kent | |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | 51°22′44″N1°12′00″E / 51.379°N 1.200°E |
| Town | Reculver |
| County | Kent |
| Country | England |
| Reference | |
| UK-OSNG reference | TR228693 |
Regulbium was the name of an ancient Roman fort of the Saxon Shore in the vicinity of the modern English resort of Reculver in Kent. Its name derives from the local Brythonic language, meaning "great headland" (*Rogulbion).
The first Roman military installation in the area was a small fort built directly after the invasion of Britain in the reign of Claudius, protected by earthworks. It was connected to Durovernum (Canterbury) by a road. The fort, strategically located at the entrance of the Wantsum Channel, possibly housed a signal tower, perhaps a lighthouse, and continued in operation at least until the late 60s, since coins dating to the reign of Nero were found on site. This structure lay within the bounds of the later, larger stone fort, which was built in the early 3rd century, probably in c. 210, since the sole stone inscription found at the fort (in 1960) mentions the then governor of Britain, Aulus Triarius Rufinus. [1] This construction occurred at a time when cities and strategic sites all over Western Europe were fortified in response to the greater threat posed by barbarian raids. The archaeological remains display another period of great activity towards the end of the century, the time of the Carausian Revolt, and again in the first half of the 4th century. However, it appears that after 360, the fort was abandoned by the Roman military.
The masonry castrum at Reculver is unusually early for its location and type, [2] but it can be compared in both age and design with the forts at Brancaster and Caister-on-Sea, both in Norfolk, [3] and it may be that "the east coast was in need of protection before the south coast, which was patrolled by the Roman navy, the Classis Britannica ." [4] The design of the fort at Reculver can also be compared with those along Hadrian's Wall, in northern England. [5] The Notitia Dignitatum (whose western records date from the early 5th century but probably describe the situation at a slightly earlier date), reports the garrison at Reculver as the Cohors I Baetasiorum, and this is reflected in the discovery there of tiles stamped with the initials "CIB". [6] The Cohors I Baetasiorum were previously stationed at Maryport, in Cumbria, and, since they probably built the fort at Reculver, this may explain the similarity between it and the forts along Hadrian's Wall. [6]
After the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, the site continued to be inhabited, and, now called Raculf, became a residence of the Kings of Kent. In 669, King Ecgberht of Kent founded a monastery on the site of the fort. [7] It clearly was important, since in 690, its abbot, Bertwald, became Archbishop of Canterbury.
The fort stood on the mainland side of the northern entrance to the mile-wide Wantsum Channel, which separated the Isle of Thanet from the mainland. The Channel was a favoured passage for shipping, and the fort was built to both control it and act as a navigational marker. The construction was typical of a Saxon Shore fort, square-shaped with rounded corners. The single rampart was 10 feet (3.0 m) thick at the base tapering to 8 feet (2.4 m) at the top, with a height of probably 20 feet (6.1 m). It was additionally strengthened by an earthen rampart on the interior, and surrounded by two external ditches. The fort covered an area of 3.06 ha, but almost half of that has been lost to the sea due to erosion.
The River Wantsum is a tributary of the River Stour, in Kent, England. Formerly, the River Wantsum and the River Stour together formed the Wantsum Channel, which separated the Isle of Thanet from the mainland of Kent. Now the River Wantsum is little more than a drainage ditch starting at Reculver, and ending where it joins the Stour.
The Kingdom of the Kentish, today referred to as the Kingdom of Kent, was an early medieval kingdom in what is now South East England. It existed from either the fifth or the sixth century AD until it was fully absorbed into the Kingdom of Wessex in the late 9th century and later into the Kingdom of England in the early 10th century.
Reculver is a village and coastal resort about 3 miles (5 km) east of Herne Bay on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. It is in the ward of the same name, in the City of Canterbury district of Kent.
St Nicholas-at-Wade is both a village and a civil parish in the Thanet District of Kent, England. The parish had a recorded population of 782 at the 2001 Census, increasing to 852 at the 2011 census. The village of Sarre is part of the civil parish.
The Wantsum Channel was a strait separating the Isle of Thanet from the north-eastern extremity of the English county of Kent and connecting the English Channel and the Thames Estuary. It was a major shipping route when Britain was part of the Roman Empire, and continued in use until it was closed by silting in the late Middle Ages. Its course is now represented by the River Stour and the River Wantsum, which is little more than a drainage ditch lying between Reculver and St Nicholas-at-Wade and joins the Stour about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) south-east of Sarre.
Richborough is a settlement north of Sandwich on the east coast of the county of Kent, England. Richborough lies close to the Isle of Thanet. The population of the settlement is included in the civil parish of Ash.
Birdoswald Roman Fort was known as Banna in Roman times, reflecting the geography of the site on a triangular spur of land bounded by cliffs to the south and east commanding a broad meander of the River Irthing in Cumbria below.
Richborough Castle is a Roman Saxon Shore fort better known as Richborough Roman Fort. It is situated in Richborough near Sandwich, Kent. Substantial remains of the massive fort walls still stand to a height of several metres.
Dubris, also known as Portus Dubris and Dubrae, was a port in Roman Britain on the site of present-day Dover, Kent, England.
The Saxon Shore Way is a long-distance footpath in England. It starts at Gravesend, Kent, and traces the coast of South-East England as it was in Roman times as far as Hastings, East Sussex, 163 miles (262 km) in total. This means that around Romney Marsh the route runs significantly inland from the modern coastline.
Cilurnum or Cilurvum was an ancient Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall at Chesters near the village of Walwick, Northumberland. It is also known as Walwick Chesters to distinguish it from Great Chesters fort and Halton Chesters.
Durovernum Cantiacorum was a town and hillfort in Roman Britain at the site of present-day Canterbury in Kent. It occupied a strategic location on Watling Street at the best local crossing of the Stour, which prompted a convergence of roads connected to the ports of Dubris (Dover), Rutupiae (Richborough), Regulbium (Reculver) and Portus Lemanis (Lympne). Considerable archaeological evidence of Roman activity has been found in Canterbury, much of which can now be found in the Roman Museum built on the remains of a Roman townhouse.
Ebbsfleet is a hamlet near Ramsgate, Kent, at the head of Pegwell Bay. Historically it was a peninsula on the southern coast of the Isle of Thanet, marking the eastern end of the Wantsum Channel that separated Thanet from the Kentish mainland. It is in the civil parish of Minster-in-Thanet.
Carrawburgh is a settlement in Northumberland. In Roman times, it was the site of a 3+1⁄2-acre (1.5 ha) auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall called Brocolitia, Procolita, or Brocolita.
The Saxon Shore was a military command of the Late Roman Empire, consisting of a series of fortifications on both sides of the Channel. It was established in the late 3rd century and was led by the "Count of the Saxon Shore". In the late 4th century, his functions were limited to Britain, while the fortifications in Gaul were established as separate commands. Several well-preserved Saxon Shore forts survive in east and south-east England.
Uxelodunum was a Roman fort with associated civilian settlement (vicus) in modern-day Carlisle, Cumbria, England. It was the largest fort on Hadrian's Wall and is now buried beneath the suburb of Stanwix.
Maia, or Mais, in Cumbria, England was a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall, and was the last fort at the western end of the Wall, overlooking the Solway Firth.
Branodunum was an ancient Roman fort to the east of the modern English village of Brancaster in Norfolk. Its Roman name derives from the local Celtic language, and may mean "fort of the raven".
All Saints' Church, Shuart, in the north-west of the Isle of Thanet, Kent, in the south-east of England, was established in the Anglo-Saxon period as a chapel of ease for the parish of St Mary's Church, Reculver, which was centred on the north-eastern corner of mainland Kent, adjacent to the island. The Isle of Thanet was then separated from the mainland by the sea, which formed a strait known as the Wantsum Channel. The last church on the site was demolished by the early 17th century, and there is nothing remaining above ground to show that a church once stood there.
St Mary's Church, Reculver, was founded in the 7th century as either a minster or a monastery on the site of a Roman fort at Reculver, which was then at the north-eastern extremity of Kent in south-eastern England. In 669, the site of the fort was given for this purpose by King Ecgberht of Kent to a priest named Bassa, beginning a connection with Kentish kings that led to King Eadberht II of Kent being buried there in the 760s, and the church becoming very wealthy by the beginning of the 9th century. From the early 9th century to the 11th the church was treated as essentially a piece of property, with control passing between kings of Mercia, Wessex and England and the archbishops of Canterbury. Viking attacks may have extinguished the church's religious community in the 9th century, although an early 11th-century record indicates that the church was then in the hands of a dean accompanied by monks. By the time of Domesday Book, completed in 1086, St Mary's was serving as a parish church.
