These parallel ditches are the oldest visible Roman remains in Britain. Constructed to defend the beachhead when Aulus Plautius landed in the Claudian invasion of AD 43, they extended on either side of this excavated section and cut off the promontory and harbor from the mainland.
In the foreground are the remains of a baptismal font, evidence of a late Roman church dating from the late fourth or early fifth century. In the background, in the gap in the wall, is the beginning of Watling Street, the Roman road that ran through London and Canterbury all the way to Chester.
