Hayling Island (Hampshire). Reconstructed view of the circular temple at Hayling Island as it might have appeared in the first century. The Roman development of the site represented continuity of use of a much older shrine.
Most prehistoric places were venerated for their natural features, and structures were not integral or necessary to the concept of sanctity. The only pre-conquest buildings identifiable as temples known in Britain were in the southeast, such as the timber circular ‘tower’ cello and enclosure at Haviing Island, in use by the first century BC [232]. They seem to have been yet another dimension of Continental culture already being absorbed from across the Channel before 43.*' VVanborough (Surrey) had a circular temple by the late first century, but it lay on top of possible earlier structures.’* The vast numbers of Iron Age coins found on the site make it likely that there had been some sort of pre-conquest temple structure on the site. VVanborough is also an early instance of coins being used as votive deposits, a characteristically Roman habit. Hayling Island’s pre-conquest temple was replaced with a Roman version in stone on a similar but much larger plan. The new version had a porch, and was surrounded by a masonry precinct wall and rooms. By the mid-second century, VVanborough had a conventional Romano-Celtic
Temple. Sacred sites that remained in their natural state were also liable to development. The most conspicuous and exciting example of adaptation was at Bath. Others, like Coventina’s Well at Carrawburgh, were left more or less as they were.
World History
