History of Stutfall Castle
The Stutfall Castle is a Roman fort on the Saxon Shore.
The assumed coastline during Roman times would have allowed the fort at Lympne to protect the entrance of a substantial natural harbor in an area now part of Romney Marsh.
It is suggested that the surviving remains belong to a fort of the Saxon Shore and belong 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 an 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 numerous Turnacensium but this is not thought to be realistic and is possibly an error.
Next to the remains of Stutfall Castle is located Lympne Castle.
