Off the mouth of the Stour and the Goodwin Sands, and thence down the
coast to Dover, is the narrowest part of the strait between England and
France. This is a coast, therefore, that needed defence from the
earliest times, and the cliff-castles and earthworks still remaining
show how well it was watched. The Romans carefully fortified the entire
line of cliffs from the Goodwin Sands to Beachy Head beyond Hastings.
There were nine fortresses along the coast, which in later times were
placed under control of a high official known as the "Count of the Saxon
Shore," whose duty was to protect this part of England against the
piratical attacks of the Northern sea-rovers. These fortresses commanded
the chief harbors and landing-places, and they marked the position of
the famous Cinque Ports, whose fleet was the germ of the British navy.
They were not thus named until after the Norman Conquest, when John de
Fiennes appeared as the first warden. The Cinque Ports of later English
history were Sandwich, Dover, Hythe, Romney, and Hastings, each of which
had its minor ports or "limbs," such as Deal, Walmer, Folkestone, Rye,
Winchelsea, and Pevensey, that paid tribute to the head port and enjoyed
part of its franchises. The duty of the Cinque Ports was to furnish
fifty-seven ships whenever the king needed them, and he supplied part of
the force to man them. In return the ports were given great freedom and
privileges; their people were known as "barons," were represented in
Parliament, and at every coronation bore the canopy over the sovereign,
carrying it on silver staves having small silver bells attached. The
canopy was usually afterwards presented to Becket's shrine at
Canterbury, and its bearers after the coronation dined in Westminster
Hall at the king's right hand. But the glory of these redoubtable Cinque
Ports has departed. Dover is the only one remaining in active service;
Sandwich, Hythe, and Romney are no longer ports at all; while Hastings
is in little better condition. The tides have gradually filled their
shallow harbors with silt. Of the "limbs," or lesser ports, two,
Winchelsea and Pevensey, are now actually inland towns, the sea having
completely retired from them. Such has also been the fate of Sandwich,
which in the time of Canute was described as the most famous harbor of
England. The coast has greatly changed, the shallow bays beyond the old
shore-line, which is still visible, being raised into green meadows. In
this way the water-course that made Thanet an island has been closed.