A HISTORY OF SUFFOLK of Lake Lothing with the sea was effected when the harbour at Lowestoft was formed ; before that the narrow strip of land between the two waters was breached and filled and breached and filled again and again, and the connexion too between Lake Lothing and Oulton Broad seems to have been uncertain. That there was any way at all practicable for vessels along this line in Roman times cannot be believed, as it would have rendered the fortress useless, by allowing an entrance to the river far above it. The south bank of Breydon, unlike its other margins, was not marshy, and fairly high land can be traced along its full extent. Towards the north of the Waveney it rises somewhat, and at the spot chosen for the fortress of Gariannonum (Burgh Castle) ' it presents a high bank to the west with a Plan II. — Plan of Gariannonum (Burgh Castlb) Steep incline to the river, which flows at its foot with a broad strip of marsh intervening (plan II). Like all Roman fortresses, at least in this country, all that remain above ground are the walls of enceinte surrounding a space of quadrangular shape, in this instance roughly 640 ft. long by 413 ft. wide. The thickness of the walls is 9 ft., with a foundation 12 ft. thick ; each angle is rounded and is buttressed by a solid round bastion. Two other bastions occur on the east side, and one each on the north and south sides, these not being in the centre of each side, but rather west of it. Each of the bastions has a hole in the top 2 ft. deep by 2 ft. in diameter, possible indications of some sort of turntable on which a small ballista could be planted. There is another peculiarity respecting them. From their bases for 7 ft. up they are not bonded into the wall, but from that point for the rest of the height, originally
- l^crf. Arch. 1859, v, 126 et seq.
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