Possible Roman temple at Thurnham, found in 1958 before the construction of the Maidstone by-pass with further excavation in 1998-99 prior to the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.

During the 1958 excavations this building was interpreted as a double-roomed ancillary building (1). The 1998-1999 excavations found the ground plan of this building to strongly suggest that this may be a temple site. The shallow foundations of the building supported a single surviving drystone course of ragstone blocks. Floor surfaces of crushed tile, chalk and flint cobbles were well preserved within the building although these were invariably clean and few finds were retrieved from the interior. This rectangular building was constructed c.50-120AD along the eastern line of a former enclosure ditch. The stratigraphy of this ditch suggests that the temple collapsed or was demolished c.200-250AD (2).

<1> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1999, Thurnham Roman Villa, Thurnham, Kent Detailed Archaeological Works Interim Report Final (Unpublished document). SKE7014.

<2> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 2001, Thurnham Roman villa, post-excavation assessment report, Thurnham. (Unpublished document). SKE13710.