The
Pagans Hill Roman Temple was a
Romano-British-style
temple excavated on Pagans Hill at
Chew Stoke in the
English county of
Somerset.
Excavations
The temple was situated on a promontory overlooking the
River Chew. It was excavated by
Philip Rahtz between 1949 and 1951. In addition to the foundations of the temple a
well (17 metres deep) and several
ditches were found which contained small
artifacts showing occupation of the site before the
Roman period including
pottery of
Iron Age type, and a
coin dating from c335-7. Evidence of continuing use after the Roman period is provided by a bucket and an exotic 7th century
glass jar found in the well.
It was originally thought, on its discovery in 1830, to have been a
beacon, for signalling between adjoining
hill forts.
Appearance
It was a double-
octagonal temple building comprised an inner wall, which formed the
cella or sanctuary, surrounded by an outer wall forming an
ambulatory, or covered walkway. The outer
portico measures about 56½ feet in diameter, the inner cellar about 32 feet across. All walls were about 3 feet thick. Along each wall were two features described by Rahtz as
buttresses but were more likely to have been
pilasters, as their small size would render them ineffective as wall supports.
Warwick Rodwell suggests that the ambulatory would have been cross-vaulted and the pilasters used as...
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