Richborough Roman Fort
What a fascinating piece of history we're sitting on down here in Kent. We never knew that the Richborough Roman Fort was this close to us! So our third stop of that sweltering Sunday afternoon was the fort and not only did Lauren get terribly sunburnt but we had a really good time exploring the Roman ruins that predated King Arthur. We were lucky enough to get an overview by a friendly volunteer and were told that the settlements cemetery is where the carpark is but as no one has bothered to excavate we just keep parking on skeletons! This reminded Lauren very much of Richard III being found under a carpark.
Also known as Richborough Castle, the fort was the original gateway to England. This was because it was situated by the Wantsum Channel and at the mouth of the River Stour so access was easier into England as there wasnt a port of Dover yet, this came a little while later. The fort was actually a large settlement which was pretty much a Roman town, it was known as Rutupiae and was the starting point for what we refer to now as Watling Street, the volunteer was telling us that this is now the oldest surviving Roman road in Britain. He also told us that when they vacated the site, they left all their coins buried underground assumedly not needing them when they returned to Rome.
When the Romans fled the site a Saxon settlement moved in which we found quite amusing considering reinforcements were made to the site in order to deter Saxon pirates. The town converted part of itself into what are known as the Saxon Shore Forts which they built along the coast in both England and France in order to defend from Saxons. The example here seemed to have been built by different sets of labourers and evidence indicates that the North wall was built after the South wall due to this as it was built in sections. This is unlike the Southern one which in turn was built as a solid unit. The West wall was the entrance, and all of them were of such good quality and skillmanship that its only recently needed repointing and they are still of a great height today!
Excavations of the amphitheatre in 1849 uncovered a skeleton which is what leads history buffs to believe that it was the cemetery, however this is fairly close to what is considered the carpark so until it goes under further excavation we wont know for sure. They did excavate nearby in 2021 and found some wall art, so hopefully more planned works are on the way.
In 2023 a replica wooden Roman gate was built almost in the centre of the site. This overlooks the town from all view points and is accessed by a small ladder type staircase that you walk down backwards like on a ship. Witnessing Jay carry Yogi both up and down said ladder so he could look from up high was both hilarious and terrifying, but Yogi enjoyed the view. This was also the point that Lauren's pale skin started to burn. She'd avoided the oncoming rays a fair bit during our other adventures, but having struck up a 20 minute conversation with the helpful volunteer at the very top of the gate in full view of the fireball in the sky she turned a deep shade of red within minutes.
We spent a good hour and a half walking around this site as although it is mainly ruins there is an awful lot to see and a lot of involvement needed especially if you want to avoid falling in the ditches. The giftshop was good too and Ren got her keyring, we also tried a Rhubarb lemonade which was delicious and well needed in the sunshine.
While we didn't see any ghosts and cant find any reports of any online, due to the inclusion of a burial site there are bound to be some hauntings somewhere. The site is incredibly peaceful and we didn't feel anything negative, so we're hoping that any ghosties that remain here are happy ones going about their day in the countryside.
We would go back here with friends for sure, it was an interesting hour or so, but not one we'd do again so recently as it isn't as interactive or picturesque as perhaps other sites we visit are. The walls are the most stunning feature here at this site and you can't exactly stand there staring at a Roman walls for ages. It was an educational visit however so we'd love to spread the knowledge. We would also say avoid the toilets, they are environmentally friendly by being pretty medieval. It's a raised hole in the ground, made to look like a toilet, filled with sawdust. It stinks, there are loads of flies, and you can see other peoples waste below. We commend the attempt to save the planet, but on what was the hottest day of the year at the time we wished we just held it in.
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