An online talk by Philip Smither on the reinvestigation of Roman Richborough.

Richborough, a Roman site on the east coast of Kent, has been studied academically since the 16th century. In the 1920s and 30s, excavations took place under the auspices of the Society of Antiquaries and the directorship of J.P. Bushe-Fox.

Richborough Roman Fort.

For almost 100 years the Richborough archive has been left understudied and the tome that is Richborough V has been the sole source on which to base the conclusions of subsequent studies. This paper re-examines these conclusions focusing on Richborough from AD 43 to the mid-second century. In this time Richborough changed from an invasion harbour to a bustling port town, but not in the way described in the literature, and places Richborough in its wider archaeological and historical context.

Roman Richborough at the top of an extract from the 4th-century Peutinger Map, with Dover (Dubris) is below it.

This re-examination has been achieved by using up to date analytical and digital techniques, including mapping the site in GIS, to modernise the site archive. This study also highlights why it is important we revisit and digitise antiquarian archives before they become further removed in time from their context. The digitisation of the archive makes it more accessible for future study which has not been possible until now.