Reculver Roman Fort

Reculver Roman Fort

The Roman fort at Reculver, just outside Herne Bay, stood at one end of a sea channel known as the Wantsum (now silted up), which may have been the landing site when the Romans invaded Britain. In the early 200s a fort was built on the site of earlier informal settlements at Reculver. It had earth ramparts, flint walls and 2 ditches, and was designed to resist invasion by the Saxons.

In later years, after the Romans abandoned Britain, it became the site of an Anglo-Saxon monastery and the church of St Mary, and subsequently Reculver parish church. In the 1100s the distinctive twin towers were added – and they largely survived when much of the church was demolished in the early 1800s, becoming a distinctive landmark for local shipping.

Visit the Museum to see:

– pottery, carvings and other finds from the fort area
– images of the towers at different periods
– Roman and Anglo Saxon artefacts, including a Saxon glass claw beaker
– A roof tile from the Roman fort stamped with the exact location that it was to be sent to within the empire