Given the impressive geophysical results and the possibility of buried archaeology, we decided we needed to have a look under the surface. I recruited the help of Dr Julia Farley (then working at Leicester University) who obtained funding from the Roman Society, Roman Research Trust and the Association for Roman Archaeology. This allowed us to undertake a trial excavation on site in the summer of 2013.

We were very pleased to find evidence for a stone built circular building just where we hoped it would be (it really is circular!). This unusual building form confirmed that we have a Roman temple precinct. Its location, half way between Mancetter and Leicester, is a convenient stopping point on the road (Fenn Lane), where troops could rest,  get some food and drink and make an offering (perhaps even buy one on site?) to their god.

 

We haven’t found any solid evidence of brooch production on site yet, but a large scatter of silver droplets from the field  may indicate some form of metalworking.  Many of the  horse and rider brooches have silvered borders and in some cases have applied silver wire around the enamel cells (see pic). We didn’t find any more brooches, but did find a conveniently placed late Roman coin, which confirmed the date of the  structure.

 

There is much more to learn about this site and we hope we can do further fieldwork  in the future. We are extremely grateful to the organisations who helped to fund the excavations and especially to the dedicated volunteers who recovered all this material and to all those who helped me identify and record it.