Plas-newydd Romano-British temple cropmark

Cadw's description

Summary description and reason for designation

The following provides a general description of the Scheduled Ancient Monument.

The monument comprises the remains of a Romano-British temple, indicated by a cropmarks on aerial photographs. The cropmarks would appear to indicate a square central cella within a temenos or larger rectangular enclosure. The temple probably dates to the early centuries of the first millennium AD. Such sites usually comprise a small central square building, usually with a surrounding aisle or portico, set within a larger square or rectangular enclosure that is usually marked by a wall or fence. The temples are usually found in rural locations and represent the deliberate combination of Roman religion with local Celtic deities. Such temples are often found in association with an earlier Celtic cult site. The cropmarks very likely identify the location of ditches associated with the now-vanished building and enclosure and measure about 100m from NW to SE by up to 60m transversely overall.

The monument is of national importance for its potential to enhance our knowledge of ritual structures and practices in the Roman period. The monument is an important relic of the rural landscape in the Roman period and retains significant archaeological potential, with a strong probability of the presence of ritual deposits and environmental and structural evidence. The survival and recognition of Romano-British temples is very uncommon in Wales and this further enhances the importance of the Plas-newydd example.

The area to be scheduled comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related evidence may be expected to survive. It is irregular and measures 120m from NW to SE by up to 85m transversely.