In the later third century AD, the outer reaches of the Roman Empire were being threatened on all sides by hostile powers. Along the southern and eastern coasts of Britain, a series of ten, possibly twelve, vast fortified enclosures were built beside strategic harbours to defend against external threats, mainly from Germanic marauders. Through sixteen centuries impressive vestiges of most of them have survived, although three have vanished virtually without trace. Several became the sites of Norman castles, others have associations with early Christianity, all have a story to tell. Taking the reader from the colossal surviving fort at Portchester in Hampshire to the empty, windswept site of Brancaster on the north Norfolk coast, Seeking the Saxon Shore is both a practical guide to locating and exploring these ancient sites and a handbook for bringing them to life. In describing the origins of the forts, their ancient settings, their functions and subsequent histories, this compelling guide will enable the reader, in the modern landscape, to recognise and visualise the distant past.

Maxwell Craven is a historian, conservationist and graduate of Nottingham University. He worked at Derby Museum for twenty-five years as assistant keeper (archaeology) and keeper of antiquities. He is a former chairman of Derby Civic Society, vice-chairman of Derby Cathedral FAC and trustee of Derby Bridge Chapel. He was elected FSA and awarded an Hon. DLitt by Derby University in 2013. He is a published architectural, Roman and local historian. Carole Craven, Max’s Staffordshire-born wife, is also a Nottingham graduate. She is a retired geography teacher, former SENCO and a keen motorist. They have a daughter and live in Derby.