Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Part of a possible Roman gateway or temple (Temple 6) 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 six possible temples discovered within a walled temple complex. It is located on the eastern side of the temenos with steps on its western side facing the other temples and courtyard and a possible entrance from the road to the east. (location accurate to the nearest 10m based on availabel information)

Monument Types

• GATE? (Roman - 150 AD? to 300 AD?)
• TEMPLE? (Roman - 150 AD? to 350 AD?)

Associated Finds

• COIN (Roman - 43 AD? to 300 AD?)
• BLADE (Roman - 150 AD? to 300 AD?)
• BRACELET (Roman - 150 AD? to 300 AD?)
• PIN (Roman - 150 AD? to 300 AD?)
• PLATE (Roman - 150 AD? to 300 AD?)
• SHERD (Roman - 150 AD? to 300 AD?)
• SURGICAL INSTRUMENT (Roman - 150 AD? to 300 AD?)

Full description

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Part of a possible Roman gateway or temple (Temple 6) 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 six possible temples discovered within a walled temple complex. It is located on the eastern side of the temple complex (temenos) with steps on its western side facing the other temples and courtyard and a possible entrance from the road to the east. The building is 4.8m square internally with wall foundations, which were partially robbed, that were constructed of chalk and were c. 90cm thick on the north west and southern sides. The upper courses of the walls had been flint and mortar as a substantial quantity of flint and mortar fragments were discovered within the robber trenches. These walls had been erected against the eastern wall of the temple complex which thus became the fourth wall of the building. The walls had been strengthened at the south west corner by a pier or buttress constructed of concrete. The steps on the western side were made of flint and mortar and reinforced at the front with tile, there were two in total both 1.5m wide and just under 1m in depth. Two floors were identified within the buildings interior, the later was substantial and consisted of flints with chalk blocks with a surface of gravel. At the centre of the room was a tiled base which was presumably for a cult statue or altar which had been erected upon the gravel floor with no foundations. The construction of the building may be divided into two well defined phases, both of which overlay a series of earlier roads which crossed the site. The dating of the first phase of the building is fairly secure and is probably late second or early third century, which means it is contemporary with temple 2 and the alterations made to temple 1. The second phase of construction has been dated to the late third century based on the coin evidence, around the same time temple 5 was constructed. Overall the building appears on the first examination to have all the characteristics of a temple; it is on a low podium, inside the temenos, it has a statue/altar base and possible votive pit. The factor which appears to confuse the situation is that the building was erected against the temenos wall, this suggests the possibility that it was an entrance. A further point is that the steps face west, unlike all of the other temples discovered within the complex at Springhead. It is also possible that the building acted as both a temple and an entrance gateway. A devotee, entering by the gate would have made an offering at the statue/altar into the votive pit, before entering the main temple area. (1-2)

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

<2> W. S. Penn, 1967, Archaeologia Cantiana - The Romano British Settlement at Springhead, Temple 6 and the gateway (Article in serial). SKE53587.

Sources and further reading

Related records