The Saxons step up their raids
 

ollowing the departure of the Romans in A.D.410 and after the sacking of Rome, Britain was left unprotected. The distant dominions frantic call to Rome went unheard. Mutiny spread through the ranks of the British defenders remaining who were now descendants of Roman stock. Britain in desperation declared independence from Rome and defended itself the best way it could. Despite this sudden change in fortune for Britain, the Roman lifestyle continued, if on a downward path for the next fifty years. The departure of the Romans did not go un-noticed by the Picts, Scots and especially the Saxons, who saw Britain as a prosperous and plunderable asset. The problems with the Picts and Scots had been going on for quite some time but the northern British defenders had little problem seeing off their attacks around the position of Hadrian's Wall, as their numbers were limited. As time went by however, the country slowly and sadly degenerated back to the way it was four hundred years earlier. It became much more tribal. Britain was only Britain by name. It had split into England, Scotland and Wales, each area further sub-divided into cultural regions, each with its own king or ruler. If the Romans had stayed, it is very unlikely that the separate countries that now comprise the British Isles would exist. To say that the country was in total anarchy was not true in the beginning. To counter the threat of the Saxons, coastal and estuary defences were erected, and possibly some of the old Roman ones repaired. So there must have still been some co-ordination left. These stretched from the Wash in East Anglia to the Isle of Wight in the south of England. The removal of the Roman fleet left the coast vulnerable to attack.
 

Who were the Saxons?
 

he word Saxon is used as a generic term for people from Germany. In fact, the Saxons are made up of three peoples from different parts of Germany. Saxons are people from north west Germany or Old Saxony as it is sometimes known. Angles are people from the Germany/Denmark border. Jutes are believed to originate from areas of Jutland and Frisian coast. The Saxons settled in the south and west of England. The Jutes in Kent populated the area that now encompasses Sussex and Hampshire including London. The Angles predominantly occupied the midlands and the north.