As a matter of fact, as we have seen, the coast blockhouses erected by Henry VIII have never taken any important part in the defence of our coasts. This is mainly due, not to their inefficiency, but to the absence of opportunity. The same is true of the Martello towers erected along our south-eastern coast when invasion from France, under Napoleon I, was anticipated. History is full of accounts of attempted invasions of England. Up to the period of the Norman Conquest, wellnigh every attempt to land on our shores was eventually, although not always immediately, successful. But from the Norman Conquest downward England has always been strong enough to protect herself from enemies who have attempted to make a permanent settlement. This is due to the fact that whilst we have not neglected our coast defences, we have not relied on castles, forts, and other forms of land defence. We have maintained a powerful fleet of war vessels as our first line of defence. Experience has made it abundantly clear that coast defence without the aid of a powerful navy would be inadequate to protect our shores. Our navy is, and always must be, the first and most important of our defences, and its special business is not to act as a simple coastguard force, but to seek out the enemy's naval force where-ever it may be, and destroy it. INDEX Alfred, King, 79-80. Anderida, 17, 58-62. Angles, The, 75. Anglo-Saxon buildings, 77-78. Anglo-Saxon burhs, 88-89. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 75, 84-85. Anglo-Saxon defensive works, 79. Anglo-Saxon mints, 77. Appledore, 191. Arckcliffe Bulwark, 131. Armitage, Mrs. E. S., 89. Avon, River (Bristol), 153. Bamborough Castle, 98-99. Barbican (Gate), Sandwich, 126-127. Bayeux tapestry, 89. Beblowe Fort (Holy Island), 188. Benfleet, Danish settlement at, 82. Berwick-upon-Tweed, 97-98. Black Bulwark, 132, 161. Booms, 210-211. Boulogne, 5. Bradwell-on-Sea, 25-28. Bramber Castle, 141-142. Bramber, Danish settlement at, 82. Brancaster, 17, 19-22. Branodunum, 17, 19-22. Breding-Stone, Dover, 201. Brighton, defences and gates of, 181-182. British fastnesses, 5. Broadstairs, 122. Burgh Castle, 19, 23-25. Caesar, 5. Caesar's Camp, 3-5. Calshot ("Calste Point") Castle, 169-186. Camber Castle, 119, 177-178. Camps, prehistoric, 3-5. Canterbury, 70. Canterbury, Anglo-Saxon coins, 77. Canterbury Castle, 119-122. Carausius, 14. Cardiff Castle, 67-69. Carlisle Castle, 154-156. Carrnase, 70.