ANGLO-SAXON 

 REMAINS 



WERE it not for the unmistakable evidence afforded by the 

 county name, it would be difficult to identify the founders of 

 Essex with any particular branch of the Teutonic race that 

 migrated westward as the Roman power declined. A natural 

 course would have been to assign the conquest and occupation of this 

 part of Britain to the Anglian tribesmen who spread themselves over the 

 region between the central east coast and the Fens ; and there would 

 have been little or nothing in the physical features of the country to 

 preclude such a possibility. The river Stour, which forms the greater 

 part of the county border on the north would not have been a serious 

 obstacle to intercourse between the dwellers on either bank, much less 

 to a hostile advance in one direction or the other. Fourteen centuries 

 ago there was no doubt much more marsh and woodland along its course 

 than at the present time ; but practised seamen ascending the river 

 would easily effect a landing, while their skill as boat builders would 

 render such forest clearing as was necessary a matter of little difficulty. 



What actually happened however may well have been quite dif- 

 ferent. So long as Britain remained part of the Empire, the police of 

 our narrow seas was doubtless one of the first duties of the Roman 

 authorities; while the career of the usurper Carausius and the fortification 

 of the Saxon shore combine to show the necessity then felt of guarding 

 the natural approaches to south-east Britain. Such an inlet as the mouth 

 of the Stour would not have been left unsecured so long as the province 

 retained means of self-defence ; but it will perhaps always remain doubt- 

 ful how long the forts of the Saxon shore were maintained in an efficient 

 state. 



The prime importance of London, the Augusta of Britain, had been 

 fully recognized by those responsible for the safety of the province ; but 

 it must be remembered that Colchester was another of the chief military 

 centres in the early days of the Roman dominion, and was doubtless 

 included in the scheme of defence evolved some centuries later for the 

 protection of the coast-line most exposed to piratical attacks. The 

 havoc wrought by Boadicea in the year 62, so far from permanently 

 ruining Colchester as a point of vantage, probably led to the erection 

 of its walls ; and here an organized force could stand sentinel over the 

 Colne waterway as well as the system of roads that converged at this 

 point and connected the eastern stronghold with London and the north. 



