More information : [ST 29335883] A Romano-Celtic temple on Brean Down, first
indicated by RB potsherds in rabbit scrapes, was excavated in 1957-8.
It comprised a square cella with a verandah all round and a porch on
the south-east. On the south west were two rooms presumably for the
priests. [See plan(2)]. Coin and pottery evidence suggest it may
have been built soon after AD 340, and used for some 25-30 years
when it was ransacked and a smelting furnace erected in the northern
annexe (5). A third building, dating from C. 400 AD or later, was built in the rubble of the temple and priests' house. A skeleton outside the north corner of the temple had been buried when it was in ruins.
The original quarry for stone was 75 yards north of the site and the
Roman approach was up a narrow gully on the south face of the Down.
A sherd of Peterborough ware came from beneath the temple. The finds
are displayed in Weston-Super-Mare Museum. (1-5)
The siting of the Roman temple at ST 29355882 (approx) has been
obtained at Weston Super-Mare Museum from a large scale air
(helicopter) photograph of the excavations, with this photograph at
the site the centre of the temple can still be deduced. (6)
The temple is square in plan, constructed c. 340 AD with lateral annexes and a front porch added before c. 367-8 AD. A coin hoard was located within the interior and may be a votive offering or related to the latter phase of activity. Prior to demolition c. 390 AD. the north annexe used was for iron working. After demolition a small domestic building was constructed, this was demolished during the fifth century. A burial located within the temple appears to be part of this later occupation. (7)
A Rodwell Group 2 Temple; Small Roman type Temple (Rectangular) (8)
The area around the site of the Romano-Celtic temple on Brean Down was surveyed a t a scale of 1:1000 by the RCHME in June 1995, as part of a landscape survey of Brean Down (ST 25 NE 32). The remains of the Romano-Celtic temple on Brean Down are visible in the form of several small hollows, centred at ST 29335 58835, and the footings of two walls, at ST 29336 58847 and ST 29342 58845 (8). The hollows represent the remains of ApSimon's excavation trenches. The wall footings are part of the north annexe of the temple, partially excavated by ApSimon, who left the walls in situ before backfilling the trenches (7). The wall footings have been uncovered by erosion caused by a footpath along the summit of the Down (9). |