Farley Heath

Excavation by R Poulton of SCAU for English Heritage on the site of the Roman temple, to establish how much damage was being caused following repeated disturbance by metal detectorists. An initial resistivity survey by the archaeometry branch of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory located the southern boundary of the temenos and part of the northern boundary. Excavation revealed that the upper levels of the temple site had been extensively disturbed in the past by previous excavators. Flintwork of predominantly Neolithic date and pottery of Bronze Age or Iron Age date indicates some earlier activities on the site, but no pits or postholes were discovered, indicating that the temple is most unlikely to have replaced a prehistoric structure. The excavation of the temple site confirmed the known plan and that no annexes ever existed. Robbing of the cella and temenos walls was found to have been extensive. Evaluation of Skemp Pond (TQ 053 448) revealed no evidence that it had ever had ritual associations; certainly no evidence was found for the postulated paving. (See report in SyAC 93)
Year: 
1994-5
ID: 
1432
NGR: 
TQ050449
Periods: 
Borough: