Gariannonum, or Gariannum, was a Saxon Shore

Saxon Shore

Saxon Shore could refer to one of the following:* Saxon Shore, a military command of the Late Roman Empire, encompassing southern Britain and the coasts of northern France...

 fort in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. The Notitia Dignitatum

Notitia Dignitatum

The Notitia Dignitatum is a unique document of the Roman imperial chanceries. One of the very few surviving documents of Roman government, it details the administrative organisation of the eastern and western empires, listing several thousand offices from the imperial court down to the provincial...

, a Roman Army “order of battle” from about AD 400, lists nine forts of the Saxon Shore in south and east England, among which one was called Gariannonor. It has been much discussed over the years in terms of spelling (Gariannonum, Garianonum, Gariannum), purpose (whether it really was intended for defence against Saxon raids), and location (Burgh Castle

Burgh Castle Roman Site

Burgh Castle is the site of one of several Roman shore forts constructed around the 3rd Century AD, to hold cavalry as a defence against Saxon raids up the rivers of the east and south coasts of southern Britain; and is located on the summit of ground sloping steeply towards the estuary of the...

 or Caister-on-Sea

Caister Roman Site

Caister Roman Site is a Roman Saxon Shore fort, located in Caister-on-Sea, Norfolk. It was constructed around AD 200 for a unit of the Roman army and navy and occupied until around 370-390 AD...

).

Identification

Gariannonum has usually been identified with Burgh Castle. However, modern reassessment of the Roman settlement 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) away at Caister-on-Sea has shown that it too had a military function. In Roman times, both sites lay on opposite sides of a large estuary (now Breydon Water

Breydon Water

Breydon Water is a massive stretch of sheltered estuary at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. It is at gateway to the Norfolk Broads. It is the UK's largest protected wetland. It is 5 km long and more than 1.5 km wide in places...

). The identification of Burgh Castle as Gariannonum is uncertain, and the name could apply to Caister-on-Sea.

The name Gariannonum has been thought to derive from a Celtic

British language

The British language was an ancient Celtic language spoken in Britain.British language may also refer to:* Any of the Languages of the United Kingdom.*The Welsh language or the Brythonic languages more generally* British English...

 root meaning "babbling river," which may refer to the River Yare

River Yare

The River Yare is a river in the English county of Norfolk. In its lower reaches the river connects with the navigable waterways of The Broads....

at Burgh Castle, although the derivation is uncertain. The military function of Caister-on-Sea is also open to doubt. Both sites probably operated together and one, or possibly even both, were known by the Romans as Gariannonum.

External links

• Burgh Castle, English Heritage
• Caister Roman Site, English Heritage