originally under or very near where the town of Hithe now stands, though then most probably the channel had been diverted from the neighbourhood of Apledore toward Romney. But no weight can be laid upon this consideration, because the array of Roman coast-guard towers extended certainly from Norfolk to Hampshire.[1] A vastly more formidable objection is couched in the concluding clause of Gildas's statement, wherein he declares the Roman fortresses to have been erected, not simply "on the sea coast southwards," but even "ad prospectum maris—in view of the sea." Now the spot whereupon it is proposed to fix one of those coast towers is the very extremity and lowest edge of what alone could have been dry, sound land some 1300 or 1400 years ago; and I affirm, without fear of contradiction, that no possibility exists of obtaining from thence a view of the sea, which, at the nearest point, the modern mouth of the Rother beyond Rye, must be ten or twelve miles off, while the outlet of the ancient estuary, which was coeval with Anderida, must have been distant not less than from twenty to twenty-five miles. Moreover, a position here commanding a view of the estuary can by no means be equivalent to commanding a view of the sea, because the position would not overlook even the estuary, the ancient course of the river making a sharp turn to the left, or more eastward, immediately after passing Newenden, so that, from the elevation of intervening ground, three miles will be a very liberal allowance for the extent of the prospect down the water, and very probably nothing could have been seen beyond less than half that space. And if a navigable channel should have existed (which is very likely) in the valley under the Isle of Oxney, through which the Rother now flows seaward, the prospect in that direction would have reached but little further than on the other side, because the course of the valley speedily
- ↑ It may be and is doubted by some, that the above cited passage of Gildas refers to the Roman fortresses, of which such extensive ruins yet remain, from the improbability that such considerable works should have been undertaken by the Romans when the abdication of their dominion was decided upon, and because some of the forts, which we can still trace, seem to have been built before the departure of that people. But we now behold no other vestiges of Roman military structures on our coast beside those above-mentioned, so that if they are not included under the term "turres" used by Gildas, his constructions must have vanished entirely. Wherefore I conceive that Gildas's expression is designed to embrace Pevensey, Limme, Richborough, and others already in existence at the period spoken of, together with some perhaps of smaller size and less durable materials.
