Saxon shore

A coastal network of late Roman forts stretching from Brancaster to Portchester intended to repel attacks by Saxons. The name ‘Saxon Shore’ (litoris Saxonici) appears only in the Notitia dignitatum, a document drawn up c. AD 408. The overall commander of the military network was the comes, normally translated as ‘the Count of the Saxon Shore’.

A Dictionary of British History. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 2001.