History of Great Yarmouth and Gorleston-on-Sea

Romans - The fort builders.

Great Yarmouth and Gorleston did no exist as towns in roman times. There may have been a small settlement on the sandbank that probably existed in the mouth of the estuary of the River Yare. The estuary was silting up, as all estuaries inevitably do and the last vestige of the estuary is Breydon Water.

In roman times the estuary was an important route to the regional capital of Venta Icenorum which was near to Caistor St Edmunds near Norwich. The town of Caister-on-Sea was built by the romans to handle trade between Germany and East England. The Romans recognised the military importance of Caister-on-Sea and built a stone fort to protect the town from incursions by the Saxons.

In the 3rd century another fort was built named Gariannonum and is located at what is now called Burgh Castle. The walls of the fort still stand today and it is a massive structure, which gives some idea to the importance the romans gave to the region. Burgh Castle was much nearer to the sea in the time of the Romans and being located on a hill at the confluence of the River Waveney and the River Yare it provided an ideal location to halt any raids by Saxons which may have threatened Roman Norwich.

These two forts, because of there close proximity to each other, could offer mutual support when the need arose. These forts were part of a chain of forts which the romans built from the Wash to the Solent to protect England from raids by continental tribes.

Aerial view of Gariannonum