Remains Of A Roman Temple From Nottinghamshire

Life

oi-Devaki

By Devaki

Tuesday, April 20, 2010, 14:05

Archeologists have unearthed the remains of a Roman temple, from Southwell in Nottinghamshire. It revealed the walls, ditches and ornate stones and would have been an important place of worship.

They were revealed after the excavations on the Minster C of E School site, in Southwell. The remains meant that Southwell enjoyed a high status Roman-Britain, say the experts.

They got a wall of large block masonry that was probably plastered and possible painted with a ditch, that may have contained water. It was possible the boundary of a large temple.

They also discovered the remains of timber scaffolding for the wall and the radiocarbon dating of this showed that it belonged to the first century.

The lack of domestic remains like pots and tools also indicated a ceremonial use.

"This is a fascinating site. But, so far, it has raised more questions than it has answered," says Ursilla Spence from Nottinghamshire Country Council, the archaeologist who conducted the work.

"I hope that future excavation work, when the site is developed, will throw more light on exactly what was going on here 2,000 years ago. But, whatever we might find in future, I believe we have already shown that Roman Southwell was a much more significant place than anyone previously thought," adds Spence.