Richborough Roman Fort

Rutupiae (now Richborough) was one of the most important ports in Roman Britain. It was the landing point for the first Roman invasion, and the start of the major land route Watling Street, with a 25m-high triumphal arch symbolically marking the entry point to Roman Britain. To guard against later Saxon pirate attacks, the port town was remodelled into one of the huge Saxon Shore Forts along the English channel, only to itself become a Saxon religious site after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.