The Stutfall Castle is a Roman fort of the Saxon
Shore.
The assumed coastline during Roman times would have allowed the fort at Lympne
to protect the entrance of a substantial natural harbour in an area now part of Romney Marsh.
It is suggested that the surviving remains belong to a fort of the Saxon Shore
and belonging to the period of around AD 270.
The Stutfall Fort is sometimes known as Stutfall Castle. The
remains were investigated by Charles Roach Smith and more recently by Barry Cunliffe. There is
sufficient evidence to suggest that there was earlier occupation with military connotations. This
fits well with a mention in the Antonine Itinerary (early 3rd century) of Portus Lemanis.
The present fort appears to have been abandoned around 350 AD on the basis of
coin and pottery evidence. There is, however, a reference in the Notitia Dignitatum from around 395
AD to a garrison of the numerus Turnacensium but this is not thought to be realistic and is
possibly an error.
Next to the remains of the Stutfall Castle is located the Lympne Castle,
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