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Saxon Shore forts were heavily defended later Roman military installations located exclusively in south east England. They were all constructed during the third century AD, probably between c.AD 225 and AD 285. They were built to provide protection against the sea-borne Saxon raiders who began to threaten the coast towards the end of the second century AD, and all Saxon Shore forts are situated on or very close to river estuaries or on the coast, between the Wash and the Isle of Wight. Saxon Shore forts are also found on the coasts of France and Belgium. The most distinctive feature of Saxon Shore forts are their defences which comprised massive stone walls, normally backed by an inner earth mound, and wholly or partially surrounded by one or two ditches. Wall walks and parapets originally crowned all walls, and the straight walls of all sites were punctuated by corner and interval towers and/or projecting bastions. Unlike other Roman military sites there is a lack of standardisation among Saxon Shore forts in respect of size and design of component features, and they vary in shape from square to polygonal or oval. Recognition of this class of monument was partially due to the survival of a fourth century AD Roman manuscript, the Notitia Dignitatum, which is a handbook of the civil and military organisation of the Roman Empire. This lists nine forts which were commanded by an officer who bore the title 'Officer of the Saxon Shore of Britain' (COMES LITORIS SAXONICI PER BRITANNIAM). Saxon Shore forts are rare nationally with a limited distribution. As one of a small group of Roman military monuments which are important in representing army strategy and government policy, Saxon Shore forts are of particular significance to our understanding of the period and all examples are considered to be of national importance.

From the time of St Augustine's mission to re-establish Christianity in AD 597, monasticism formed an important part of both religious and secular life in the British Isles. Settlements of religious communities, including monasteries, were built to house monks, canons (priests) and sometimes lay-brothers living a common life of religious observance under some form of systematic discipline. The main components of the earliest monasteries might include two or three small timber or stone churches, a cemetery and a number of associated domestic buildings, contained within an enclosure or vallum. Those sites which have been excavated indicate no standard layout of buildings. The earliest sites were not markedly dissimilar from contemporary secular settlements, although their ecclesiastical role may be indicated by the presence of luxury items, such as stone sculpture, coloured glass, inscriptions and high quality metalwork and pottery. Later foundations in the 10th and 11th centuries generally had one major stone church and a cemetery, and a more regular layout of buildings, often ranged around a cloister. Documentary sources indicate the existence of 65 early monasteries. The original number of sites is likely to have been slightly higher and would have included sites for which no documentary reference survives. Of these, less than 15 can at present be linked to a specific site. As a rare monument type, and one which made a major contribution to the development of Anglo-Saxon England, all pre-Conquest monasteries for men exhibiting survival of archaeological remains are worthy of protection. The Saxon Shore fort and pre-Conquest monastery at Reculver, despite some damage caused by coastal erosion, survive comparatively well, in close association with features dating from the Iron Age to the later medieval period. Part excavation has shown that the monument contains important archaeological and environmental evidence. The Saxon Shore fort, along with the example at Brancaster in Norfolk, is believed to be one of the earliest constructed on the English coast, and its reuse of the site of the earlier Roman invasion camp reflects the stategic importance of Reculver harbour. Like the fort at Brancaster, it is unusual in that it lacks the corner and interval towers found in the other Saxon Shore forts. The pre-Conquest monastery at Reculver represents a particularly rare example of a Mid-Saxon religious house, and its siting within the earlier Saxon Shore fort illustrates the early Christian practice of reusing important Roman or prehistoric enclosures.

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The monument includes the surviving part of a Saxon Shore fort, an earlier, temporary Roman military camp and Iron Age farmstead, and a later Anglo-Saxon monastery and medieval parish church, situated on a low sandy cliff on the North Kent coast, around 3km east of Herne Bay. Natural coastal processes have significantly altered the original setting of the monument. During the Roman period the sea was around 1.4km to the north and Reculver occupied the southern tip of a promontory at the north western end of the Wantsum Channel. This was an estuarine waterway which separated the Isle of Thanet from the Kent mainland. To the south, the promontory overlooked a sheltered anchorage enjoying easy access to the open sea. Coastal erosion has destroyed the north eastern part of the Saxon Shore fort and later monastery. Investigations carried out in the 19th and 20th centuries have shown the monument to have undergone several phases of development and reuse. Below ground traces of an Early Iron Age farmstead represent the earliest settlement, dating to around 500 BC. The strategic importance of the promontory is illustrated by the construction of a temporary Roman military camp in the first century AD. The camp defences survive as a pair of now buried, infilled ditches, originally surrounding a timber-reinforced, earthern rampart, enclosing an area of around 0.5ha. Analysis of pottery fragments has indicated that the camp was in use during the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43. Coastal erosion has severely damaged areas to the west and north east of the monument in which evidence for a subsequent, Early Roman civilian settlement has been found and these are not included in the scheduling. The Saxon Shore fort was constructed during the early third century AD. It took the form of a NNE-SSW aligned, square enclosure of around 3.2ha, the southern half of which survives as ruined walls, earthworks and below ground features. The core of the enclosing curtain wall, which is mainly flint with ashlar bonding, survives to a height of up to 2.7m. This was originally around 3m thick and 4.5m high, augmented on its inner side by a large earthern mound around 13.5m wide. The wall, which has been heavily robbed for building material, was originally faced with squared, coursed greensand blocks, a few of which survive in situ. Surrounding the wall are a pair of now infilled, 10m wide ditches, separated from each other and the curtain wall by up to 10m wide berms. There were originally four gateway entrances through the centre of each side of the defences. The gateways were flanked by single square gatehouse towers, and the foundations of the eastern gatehouse have been exposed and consolidated for public display. Inside the fort are buried traces of a regular layout of roads flanked by masonry and timber structures. Buildings, including the commandant's house, the headquarters building and a bath house, have been identified. The Notitia Dignitatum, a contemporary list of Late Roman military and civilian commands, names the Reculver garrison as the Cohors I Baetasiorum, and tiles stamped CIB have been discovered amongst the foundations. Evidence from the excavations suggests that the Saxon Shore fort had fallen into disuse by the beginning of the fifth century AD. Historical records indicate that the Anglo-Saxon monastery was founded in around AD 669, when Egbert, King of Kent granted Reculver to Bassa for the foundation of a minster church. The religious house utilised the existing Roman defences, and the church was built near the centre of the earlier fort, probably around the site of an early wayside preaching cross, the base of which was found during 1927 investigations at the eastern end of the nave. The cross base, now at Canterbury Cathedral along with other fragments of Saxon masonry from the church, has been dated to the early seventh century AD. The church survives in the form of buried foundations marked out in modern concrete, and standing ruins up to around 2m high, incorporated within the later medieval parish church. This early walling reused Roman tiles, bricks and rubble masonry. The earliest monastic church had a rectangular nave and apsidal chancel flanked by twin projecting rooms, or porticus. Eighth century additions include north and south aisles. Documentary evidence suggests that the site had ceased to function as a monastic house by the tenth century AD, after which time the church became St Mary's, the secular parish church of Reculver. Much of the original extent of the Anglo-Saxon monastery has been destroyed by coastal erosion, although some buried traces will survive within the monument. The now disused medieval parish church, flanked to the south by part of its surrounding walled graveyard, was partly demolished in 1805. The original form of the church is recorded in 18th century illustrations and descriptions. Substantial remodelling of the western end in the early 12th century included the construction of tall twin towers. The towers, without their original wooden steeples, still stand on the cliff edge. The chancel was enlarged during the 13th century. In 1809, the ruined church was bought, repaired and underpinned by Trinity House, and the twin towers are still used as a navigation mark for shipping. The standing ruins have been the subject of modern restoration and repair. Subsequent land use, including the construction of a number of houses and buildings in the 19th and 20th centuries, World War II activites and the use of part of the monument as a caravan park, will have caused some disturbance, although many of the modern buildings have now been demolished. The walled interior of the Saxon Shore fort and the church are now in the care of the Secretary of State. A number of features are excluded from the scheduling; these are Beach Cottage, the King Ethelbert Inn and its associated outbuildings, all modern signs, fences, gates, bollards, railings, fixtures and fittings and childrens play equipment, all telegraph poles and lighting, and the modern surfaces of all paths, tracks, paving and hardstanding; the ground beneath all these features is, however, included.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.