Forgotten Histories of the East: Caistor on Sea Roman Fort

I visited Casitor On Sea or Gariannonum during a cold and windy February. Having driven past it several time I thought it was time I stopped and visited the site to see what remained of the once large short fort that protected the estuary here along with it's sister fort at Burgh Castle.

Built in AD 200 it once housed a unit of Roman soldiers and sailors and was in use up to the 4th century. There is evidence of some Roman buildings within the large fort wall where the deep defensive ditch and earth rampart are evident. Along with the remains of the buildings a road can be seen and has been partial excavated. It is believed this road was built down to a bay on the estuary which would have been used for landing and transporting goods up to the fort. The estuary has long since silted up and forms the land mass on which the town of Great Yarmouth sits.

Only part of the fort can be seen by visitors today with the rest buried under modern housing that flanks the square fort on all sides. Within the fort the low level walls of a house are seen and evidence of the fine living Romans experienced are still visible in the form of the hypocaust or the under floor heating ducts.

As I wandered around the open site, I noticed how big this fort would have been in it's heyday. The Romans would have considered this to be an important area in their empire to have such a large and grand fort built here. It is a testament to their engineering and building skills that this fort while only a fraction survives is still visible to us today.

I would recommend a visit to this site to experience it first hand and combine it with a visit to the sister fort over at Burgh Castle and the many historical sites in Great Yarmouth. If you have the time, head over to the Time and Tide Museum in Great Yarmouth which gives a detailed insight into life in medieval Yarmouth and tells the tale of the town fishing history but also has exhibits on the Roman and Saxon activity in this area.