"Archaeologists have uncovered a Roman shrine at Rutland Water nature reserve.
The team from Northamptonshire Archaeology investigated the site ahead of a 240-acre extension to the reserve by Anglian Water.
They found the remains of an Iron Age farmstead, and a shrine dating from about AD100.
Jo Everitt, Anglian Water's environment and heritage assessor, said: "Finding Roman shrines is not the norm, so we were delighted."
Ritual sacrifice
Roman sites had been found in the area at Collyweston Great Woods, 14km (eight miles) to the south-east of Rutland, and another to the north-west of Rutland Water, near Oakham.
However, nothing had previously been discovered near the lagoons along the western edge of the reservoir.
The team discovered a circular stone building, about 10.5m (34ft) wide, with decorated red and white painted walls.
They also found more than 200 Roman coins, pottery jars, part of a small bronze figurine and deposits of animal bone, probably from the ritual sacrifice of lambs and cattle.
A skeleton of a man, aged about 30, was buried in a grave in the centre of the shrine.
The archaeologists believe the shrine fell out of use in AD300.
Ms Everitt added: "We've recreated part of the foundation and wall of the shrine from the original stone on an area outside of the lagoons so visitors to Rutland can see what it looked like.""
SOURCE - (
visit link)
The site is not easy to see in the long grass, but is noticeable on this google map satellite image - (
visit link)
An information board nearby has this to tell us:
"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."