Saxon Shore

Some argue that the latter hypothesis is supported by Eutropius, who states that during the 280s the sea along the coasts of Belgica and Armorica was "infested with Franks and Saxons", and that this was why Carausius was first put in charge of the fleet there.

[3][non-primary source needed] It also receives support from archaeological finds, as artefacts of a Germanic style have been found in burials, while there is evidence of the presence of Saxons in southern England and the northern coasts of Gaul around Boulogne-sur-Mer and Bayeux from the middle of the 5th century onwards.

[4] This, in turn, could mirror a well documented practice of deliberately settling Germanic tribes (Franks became foederati in 358 AD under Emperor Julian) to strengthen Roman defences.

The other interpretation holds that the forts fulfilled a coastal defence role against seaborne invaders, mostly Saxons and Franks,[5] and acted as bases for the naval units operating against them.

[7] This view is supported by contemporary references to the supplying of the army of Julian the Apostate by Caesar with grain from Britain during his campaign in Gaul in 359,[8] and their use as secure landing places by Count Theodosius during the suppression of the Great Conspiracy a few years later.

White, was that the extended system of large stone forts was disproportionate to any threat by seaborne Germanic raiders, and that it was actually conceived and constructed during the secession of Carausius and Allectus (the Carausian Revolt) in 289–296, and with an entirely different enemy in mind: they were to guard against an attempt at reconquest by the Empire.

[1] There are a few other sites that clearly belonged to the system of the British branch of the Saxon Shore (the so-called "Wash-Solent limes"), although they are not included in the Notitia, such as the forts at Walton Castle, Suffolk, which has by now sunk into the sea due to erosion, and at Caister-on-Sea in Norfolk.

Other sites probably connected to the Saxon Shore system are the sunken fort at Skegness, and the remains of possible signal stations at Thornham in Norfolk, Corton in Suffolk and Hadleigh in Essex.

Further up the coast in North Yorkshire, a series of coastal watchtowers (at Huntcliff, Filey, Ravenscar, Goldsborough, and Scarborough) was constructed, linking the southern defences to the northern military zone of the Wall.