The British towns continued to prove their worth in the 5th century, when the central government of Rome recalled its legionaries home and Britain defense was left in the hands of the native islanders and perhaps retired legionaries. They kept the Anglo-Saxon raiders at bay for many years as many village inhabitants took refuge in the walled towns, but ultimately they succumbed, but they represented a means which the Romans had provided for sustaining independent life well into the period when Rome itself had abandoned the island to its own fate. The Saxons, even though they were victorious, had little taste or aptitude for town life, as a result, pockets of settlements lingered but the town cultures had died and town life would not return until late Saxon and Medieval times. So what became of the countryside Villas and the stone house-steads of Romano-Britain and why did the Saxons prefer to live in wood and thatch? Cogidubnus Palace is a good example of why, it took a forest of trees to heat it, Britain can be a wet and damp place and the Saxons would find these places of no more comfort than caves, so they robbed the stone work for walls and found the winter months more warmer beneath thatch.