Corby Priors Hall - Roman temple-mausoleum

3D Model

The 2019-20 OA East excavations of a previously unknown late Roman industrial site, part of a Roman villa estate is the winner of ‘Rescue Project of the Year’ in the 2022 Current Archaeology Awards. A stone building associated with an earlier phase of the villa was found, which seems likely to have been a temple-mausoleum from the late 2nd-3rd century. Constructed of local limestone, the building consisted of a well-built single celled square building (cella) set within a rectangular courtyard, bounded by stone walls that formed a square precinct. The monument is likely to have been a mausoleum commemorating the memory of its financier, rather than a place of worship for the local population. At some point in the later 3rd to early 4th century, the building became dilapidated and was repurposed as a tilery in an area of industrial activity. Two kilns were constructed, one of which utilised the shell of the former cella.