This "limes" of the Late Antiquity ran through the territory of the present-day United Kingdom and France. In the 3rd century, a separate military district, the "Litus Saxonicum", was established on the British side of the English Channel between the estuaries of the Wash and the Solent, to repel Saxon pirates and plunderers. The Gallic side of the English Channel and Atlantic coast were included therein. Monitoring and coastal surveillance were carried out by a chain of watchtowers or signal towers, camps and fortified ports (Gaul). Most of the Saxon Shore camps probably served as naval bases.