The Excavation of a Romano-Celtic Temple and a Later Cemetery on Lamyatt Beacon, Somerset

Abstract

The summit of Lamyatt Beacon was totally excavated. The earliest structure was a Romano-Celtic temple, built in the late third century, in use into the early fifth century, and of square plan with two annexes on the east side. To the south was a sunken-room. Finds from related features and from looting of the site included many votive objects. Probably of later date than the temple were a small building to the north and a cemetery of at least sixteen burials, aligned east-west with heads to the west.

Age and Identity in Funerary Contexts: The Elderly in Southern Roman Britain

“…The re-use of disused religious sites as cemeteries also occurred within the rural area, and examples which produced burials utilised in this study include Lamyatt Beacon and Yatton, Somerset (Leech 1986;Watts and Leach 1996). Inhumation was the predominant burial rite in the rural area, although mixed rite cemeteries are known, as at Winterbourne, Wiltshire, where a total of 37 cremations and 14 inhumations were recovered (Foster 2001: 165, 171).…”

Christianity in Roman Britain

“…While a strong case can be made for the building being a small church or oratory, this identification is again made only on the basis of its contextual associations rather than anything inherent in the form or plan of the building itself. A number of other small rectangular structures found adjacent to Roman rural temples have also been put forward as potential churches, possibly replacing an earlier, pagan, focus of worship, including examples from Lamyatt Beacon, Somerset, Brean Down, Somerset, and Uley, Gloucestershire (Ap Simon 1964-5;Leech 1986;Woodward and Leach 1993). While they all have some features in common with early churches, the strongest parallels are with early medieval rather than Roman churches, and, in the absence of any internal dating evidence for most of these structures, an identification as a Roman church is hard to endorse.…”

Pots for Cash? A Critique of the Role of the ‘Free Market’ in the Late Roman Economy

“…Intrigued by this apparent pattern, I (Hayward 1952(Hayward , 1972; 5) I1chester Mead (Hayward 1981); and 6) Lamyatt Beacon (Leech 1986). This area is one which is some one hundred and forty kilometres as the crow flies from the Oxford kilns but only half that distance from the kilns in the New Forest.…”

“…It is an area that is doubly fortunate because some aspects of that archaeology have been intensively studied and well reported (for instance Leach 1982Leach , 2001Leech 1977Leech , 1981Leech , 1982Leech , 1986Woodward et al 1993). The identification and excavation of a number of 'high status' fifth and sixth century sites, such as Cadbury Castle (Alcock 1995) and Cadbury Congresbury (Rahtz et al 1993), in Somerset during the 1960s has also led to this area being seen as crucial to our understanding of the Late Antique / Early Mediaeval transition in western Britain.…”