Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A Roman temple (Temple 7) was discovered during excavations carried out in the 1950s and 1960s at Springhead. It is part of a larger Roman religious complex and settlement and is one of seven possible temples discovered within a walled temple complex.it is the earliest of the buildings discovered within the temple complex, it was demolished and superseeded by the later temples to the south east. (location accurate to the nearest 5m based on available information)

Monument Types

• TEMPLE (Roman - 75 AD? to 125 AD?)

Full description

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Part of a Roman temple (Temple 7) was discovered during excavations carried out in the 1950s and 1960s at Springhead. It is part of a larger Roman religious complex and settlement and is one of seven possible temples discovered within a walled temple complex.it is the earliest of the religious buidings to have been discovered within the temple complex and appears to have been demolished and superseeded by later buildings. Though only its foundations survived the plan of this building is that of a typical Romano Gaulish temple, 8.3 by 8.9m in overall dimensions, and with a cella measuring 3.8 by 4.5m. It appears to be of late first or early second century date. At about that time the whole area was cleared not only of this building but also of any other existing structures and laid with a chalk raft and the temple compound built in stone. (1-3)

<1> WS Penn, 1965, Archaeologia Cantiana, Springhead - map of Discoveries (Article in serial). SKE12613.

<2> W. S. Penn, 1960, Archaeologia Cantiana - The Romano British Settlement at Springhead, Temples 3 and 4 (Article in serial). SKE53584.

Sources and further reading

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