NHER 54693 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - Site of Crownthorpe Romano-Celtic temple

March 2012. Norfolk NMP.
The site of a Romano-Celtic temple described below was previously recorded as part of NHER 8897. The description below is principally based on evidence visible on aerial photographs, rather than that derived from the excavation or surface finds.
The site of a Romano-Celtic temple at Crownthorpe was excavated in 1959. Its outline has been identified subsequently from cropmarks visible on aerial photographs (S1)-(S3), centred at TG 0881 0287. Fieldwalking and metal detecting have recovered a wealth of finds of Roman – as well as earlier and later – date (NHER 8897 and 18111). The temple site appears to have been served by a road leading from Caistor St Edmund (NHER 19725), the course of which is visible as a cropmark only 9m to its south. A number of ditched boundaries in the area, also visible as cropmarks, could possibly be contemporary features (NHER 54694) but most appear to be of later date (NHER 54695). The existence of an associated settlement has been suggested on the basis of the quantities of 1st to 4th century AD pottery, coins and metalwork recovered in the surrounding area (NHER 8897) and the field to the north (NHER 18111) (see Scheduling information in file for NHER 8897). Scant rectilinear cropmarks visible adjacent to the road and 315m to the east (NHER 54696) could represent part of this postulated settlement.
The site is visible as a negative cropmark, shown by stunted growth along the buried walls of the temple. It conforms to a standard plan, with a near-square inner chamber or cella, measuring approximately 8.75m by 8.25m, surrounded by a rectangular outer wall, defining an ambulatory surrounding the cella, measuring approximately 16m by 14.75m. There is no obvious sign of an entrance. A central mass of masonry presumably corresponds with a massive foundation of mortared flint, approximately 1.8m in diameter, discovered during the excavation and interpreted as possibly the base for an altar or cult statue. Evidence for a clay hearth and a mosaic floor was also found during the excavation but these features are not apparent on the consulted aerial photographs (see Scheduling information in file for NHER 8897).
S. Tremlett (NMP), 15 March 2012.