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Monument details
| HER Number: | TQ 75 NE 872 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Possible Roman temple, Thurnham |
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Summary
A possible Roman temple at Thurnham, found in 1958 before the construction of the Maidstone by-pass with further excavation in 1998-99 prior to the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
| Grid Reference: | TQ 7982 5714 |
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| Map Sheet: | TQ75NE |
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| Parish: | THURNHAM, MAIDSTONE, KENT |
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Monument Types
- TEMPLE? (Roman - 50 AD to 250 AD)
Associated Finds
- BROOCH (Late Iron Age to Roman - 100 BC to 409 AD)
- NAUHEIM DERIVATE BROOCH (Late Iron Age to Roman - 0 AD to 100 AD)
- POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Late Iron Age to Roman - 0 AD to 150 AD)
- ANIMAL REMAINS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- BEAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- CEREAL GRAIN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- DRILL BIT (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- NAIL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
- COIN (Roman - 50 AD to 400 AD)
Full description
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Possible Roman temple at Thurnham, found in 1958 before the construction of the Maidstone by-pass with further excavation in 1998-99 prior to the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
During the 1958 excavations this building was interpreted as a double-roomed ancillary building (1). The 1998-1999 excavations found the ground plan of this building to strongly suggest that this may be a temple site. The shallow foundations of the building supported a single surviving drystone course of ragstone blocks. Floor surfaces of crushed tile, chalk and flint cobbles were well preserved within the building although these were invariably clean and few finds were retrieved from the interior. This rectangular building was constructed c.50-120AD along the eastern line of a former enclosure ditch. The stratigraphy of this ditch suggests that the temple collapsed or was demolished c.200-250AD (2).
<1> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1999, Thurnham Roman Villa, Thurnham, Kent Detailed Archaeological Works Interim Report Final (Unpublished document). SKE7014.
<2> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 2001, Thurnham Roman villa, post-excavation assessment report, Thurnham. (Unpublished document). SKE13710.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | <1> | Unpublished document: Oxford Archaeological Unit. 1999. Thurnham Roman Villa, Thurnham, Kent Detailed Archaeological Works Interim Report Final. |
| <2> | Unpublished document: Oxford Archaeological Unit. 2001. Thurnham Roman villa, post-excavation assessment report, Thurnham.. |
Related records
| TQ 75 NE 871 | Parent of: Iron Age ditched enclosure, roundhouses and post holes, Thurnham (Monument) |
| TQ 75 NE 876 | Parent of: Roman timber structure, corn drier, Thurnham (Monument) |
| TQ 75 NE 877 | Parent of: Roman trackway, gullies and wayside shrine, Thurnham (Monument) |
| TQ 75 NE 870 | Part of: Roman aisled building, Thurnham (Monument) |
| TQ 75 NE 374 | Part of: Thurnham Roman Villa (Monument) |
