The Greenwich Park temple is a Romano-Celtic temple situated on high ground overlooking the Thames, active broadly from the late 1st through the 4th century AD. It appears to have been a small but well-appointed cult site, of the standard square cella-and-ambulatory plan typical of the region, positioned near the line of the Roman road from London to Canterbury (Watling Street's southern alternative via Deptford/Blackheath).
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The temple's commanding riverside location and proximity to Londinium suggest it served travellers and the rural population of north-west Kent, and the recovery of inscribed material implies a degree of formal patronage unusual for a rural shrine. It is one of the few known Romano-British temples in the immediate hinterland of London.
First identified in the 18th century from surface finds of tesserae, tile and coins, the site was partially excavated in 1902 and re-investigated by Channel 4's Time Team and the Museum of London in 1999 and 2003, revealing wall foundations, painted plaster, opus signinum and tessellated flooring, plus fragments of monumental inscriptions — one possibly naming a provincial official. Finds include over 300 coins spanning the 1st–4th centuries and a marble statuary fragment, indicating sustained use and relative wealth.
The Greenwich Park temple is a Romano-Celtic temple situated on high ground overlooking the Thames, active broadly from the late 1st through the 4th century AD. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a temple site from the Roman period in Britain.
Romano-Celtic temple in Greenwich Park 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 Shadwell Roman Bathhouse (5.5 km), London Wall: remains of medieval and Roman wall extending 75yds (68m) N from Trinity Place to railway (6.6 km), London Wall: section of Roman wall and bastion beneath Crosswall, No. 1 America Square and Fenchurch Street railway station (6.7 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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