Rutland Water Roman Shrine - Egleton, Rutland - UK Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

An information board near the site of an ancient roman shrine discovered at Rutland Water in 2008.

"For two hundred years before the arrival of the Romans, local Iron Age farmers had lived here. A deep ditch surrounded a large rectangular enclosure with a gated entrance which may have been used as a corral for their animals, cattle, sheep, and perhaps also horses. A timber thatch roundhouse had stood just outside the eastern entrance. Fragments of their black hand-built pottery were found, along with animal bones. There was also some debris from the casting of bronze, probably for horse harness fittings.

The Roman Shrine, which lay 150m south-west of the Iron Age enclosure, had been built in the 2nd century AD to serve a nearby local community. This was a circular stone building with a wall of roughly dressed ironstone and limestone, bonded with clay. It probably had a conical roof of thatch or shingles, like the earlier Iron Age roundhouses. At some time additional stone was added to the north side of the building, perhaps to support an unstable length of wall. The shrine was set within a rectangular enclosure or precinct, perhaps bordered by a fence or hedge. This was later rebuilt on a grander scale and a second enclosure was added to the north, which contained a small timber building.

Within the shrine the floor space was 10.5m in diameter, and the wall plaster had been decorated with a painted design of red and white. The use of the building as a shrine was shown by the wide range of objects that had been buried beneath the floor. These included over 200 Roman coins, pieces of glass including a gaming piece, some copper alloy and lead objects including a rolled sheet of lead, which is probably a curse tablet,and some small complete pottery jars. Part of a small bronze figurine, probably of the goddess Minerva or the god Mars, was found near a stone plinth or altar outside the building. In addition, there were deposits of animal bone, probably from the ritual sacrifice of lambs and cattle.

The shrine fell out of use in the 4th century AD, but in the 5th or early 6th century AD the body of a young man, who died in his 30s, was buried in a grave in the centre of the shrine."

SOURCE - info board

Type of Historic Marker: Information board Historical Marker Issuing Authority: Anglian Water Give your Rating: Age/Event Date: Not listed Related Website: Not listed

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