This site comprises a Romano-Celtic temple set immediately adjacent to a late prehistoric midden deposit, located on the chalk downland of south Somerset/north Dorset border country near Cadbury Castle. The juxtaposition suggests cultic continuity from the Late Iron Age into the Roman period, with the temple likely active from the later 1st through 4th centuries AD — a pattern common in the region where pre-existing sacred or assembly places were monumentalised under Roman influence.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The site contributes to the well-attested phenomenon in the South West of rural shrines emerging at, or near, late prehistoric foci (compare Cadbury Castle's own late Roman shrine, Henley Wood, Lamyatt Beacon, and Brean Down), reflecting the persistence of indigenous religious practice within the Roman countryside rather than urban or military cult. Its proximity to a midden — potentially a feasting or deposition site — strengthens its interpretation as a long-lived locus of communal gathering.
This site comprises a Romano-Celtic temple set immediately adjacent to a late prehistoric midden deposit, located on the chalk downland of south Somerset/north Dorset border country near Cadbury Castle. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a temple site from the Roman period in Britain.
Romano-Celtic temple and late prehistoric midden immediately south of Woodcombe Wood, 1.1km north east of Dairy Farm is classified as a Roman temple — a religious site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Section of Roman road 760m south west of Lower Barn Farm (1.3 km), Roman Villa at Brixton Deverill (2.9 km), Romano-Celtic temple 300m south west of Keysley Farm (4.6 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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Research the area around Romano-Celtic temple and late prehistoric midden immediately south of Woodcombe Wood, 1.1km north east of Dairy Farm