TV historian weighs into Roman fort row

TV HISTORIAN Mary Beard has weighed in on a debate over plans to build a solar panel farm near an ancient fort understood to have been the landing site for the Roman invasion of Britain.

- Emily Heap

The proposals would see electricity panels constructed on 200 acres of land close to the Richborough Roman Fort in Kent.

The development, which would export up to 49.9 megawatts of energy, has met with opposition from hundreds of locals who fear it could cause serious harm to the ancient site.

The solar panels were originally going to sit just 160 metres from the fort, above.

However, after listening to objections, Statkraft, which submitted the proposal last November, said they would now be at least 400m away.

Professor Beard, pictured inset, a University of Cambridge classicist, shared a link to the plans on social media, with the caption: "If you are interested in the Roman site at Richborough, you should take a look at this."

A noted expert on ancient Rome, she wrote and presented a documentary series for the BBC called Meet The Romans.