Hello everyone!
Following on from visiting Ramsgate recently, Pegwell Bay is a wide open stretch of coastline just to the south and is significant concerning the first Roman invasion of Britain.
Views looking east towards Ramsgate, north west and south west respectively are seen below.
In 2010, evidence of a small fort in Ebbsfleet dating back to the first century BC was found whilst an artery road was being built to link the south to Ramsgate.
At that time, Ebbsfleet was roughly 500m or 1600 ft from the mouth of Wantsum Channel on the Isle of Thanet. At the north end of the channel stood Reculver Roman Fort. Due to currents shifting sands over the centries, Ebbsfleet along with Richborough fort which defended the south are now both situated far from the coast.
Experts strongly believe that the bay was host to the landings based on gradual incline out to sea and Caesars own journals. He described crossing over from the mainland empire and how the landing went that day. A ditch was uncovered in 2017 and it is very likely that it was dug out for defensive purposes during the 55BC invasion to keep the fleet of ships safe. They were hauled ashore to be repaired after a storm hit the area.
Experts estimate that the force comprised of at least 800 ships with 20,000 - 40,000 men and two thousand horses. In Caesars own words, he wrote that enemy forces retreated back to the high ground of Ramsgate.
Soon after arriving and setting up camp, Caesar returned to the mainland empire with the majority of the invasion force. The treaties Caesar set up between Rome and British royal families led to rulers of the south east of England becoming 'client kings' of Rome.
Emperor Claudius invaded again almost 100 years later and is considered the beginning of the permanent Roman occupation of Britain.
Aside from the link to Roman history, seen below is a full-size replica of a Scandinavian longboat that sailed from Denmark to Thanet in 1949 to...celebrate the 1,500th anniversary of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. It was gifted to Ramsgate and Broadstairs by the Daily Mail news organisation.
It is an exact replica of a ship nicknamed 'Gokstad' built around 890, after it was found embedded in farmland in Norway owned by a family of that name.
Lastly, the concrete area seen in the tiny planet and below is all the remains of a hovercraft port built in the 1970's. It operated routes to Calais until 1987.
Such an incredible amount of history in a relatively small area of land!
Take care until the next time!
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