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Watling Temple

Ancient Roman templesArchaeological sites in KentKent building and structure stubsRoman towns and cities in EnglandUnited Kingdom archaeology stubs
Watling Temple
Watling Temple

Watling Temple is the name given to the temple within a Roman town next to the modern A2 road in Newington, near Sittingbourne in Kent, England.The town was rediscovered in 2019 during an archaeological dig covering 18 acres that found iron furnaces and pottery kilns as part of a manufacturing site, a Roman temple, a seven metre wide Roman road and late Iron Age remains dating from 30BC.The Roman road Watling Street runs through the village of Newington, and the newly discovered road predates it and takes an alternative route.A reconstruction of the temple foundations was officially unveiled in September 2021 as the result of a collaboration between Newington History Group, SWAT Archaeology and Persimmon Homes South East. The reconstruction is the same size and orientation as the original and is located only 70 metres away from where it was uncovered. A footpath reflects the alignment of the seven metre wide Roman road to the temple. It is on permanent, free display in a landscaped area off Watling Drive, Newington, ME9 7FX. The excavation has been built on by Persimmon homes, with 124 homes in a development called "Watling Place".

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Watling Temple (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Watling Temple
High Street, Borough of Swale Newington

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Latitude Longitude
N 51.35005 ° E 0.67516 °
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High Street

High Street
ME9 7FR Borough of Swale, Newington
England, United Kingdom
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Watling Temple
Watling Temple
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Lower Halstow
Lower Halstow

Lower Halstow is a village and civil parish in the Swale district of Kent, England. The village is northwest of Sittingbourne on the banks of the Medway Estuary. It lies north of Newington on the A2 Roman road. The 2011 census recorded the parish's population as 1,180.The village has a long history, with evidence of constant occupation since the Iron Age. Being so close to the water, Lower Halstow has (until recently) been a village that has made its living from the water. Whether it be ancient pottery making, ancient fishing, barge building, or in the 19th- and 20th-century brick-making (Eastwoods Brickworks), the water has been the lifeblood of the village. According to Edward Hasted in 1798, two large hospital ships, commonly called lazarettos, (which were the surviving hulks of 44-gun ships) were moored in Halstow Creek. The lazarettos monitored ships coming to England which were forced to stay in the creek under quarantine, to protect the country from infectious diseases.In 1563 Queen Elizabeth ordered a survey, and Halstow Key (a wharf on the creek), was made up of 24 people in houses and 14 living on boats. There were two hamlets, one beside the wharf and the other around Halstow Green on Lower Street. The rest of the northern lands were salt marsh. Lands heading southwards (measuring 1200 acres) were heavy clay. All the lands were under the control of the manor of Milton Regis.The creek and some of the village is featured in the 2017 film Wonder Woman. The village has an active cricket club.

St Mary Magdalene Church, Stockbury
St Mary Magdalene Church, Stockbury

St Mary Magdalene is a parish church in Stockbury, Kent built in the late 12th century with additions in the 13th and 15th centuries and restoration in the 19th century. It is a Grade I listed building.Construction of the church was begun around 1200 with the chancel and the north aisle surviving from this period. It is constructed of flint with stone dressings. The roofs are of plain tiles. The nave and south aisle were reconstructed in the 19th century by R. C. Hussey. Each aisle has a centrally placed porch, the north one in use as the vestry and the south one having been reconstructed in the 19th century.The 15th-century west tower is attached to the nave at a slight angle. It is of two stages with a battlemented parapet with a gargoyle-punctuated string course at its base. A circular stair turret on the south-east corner of the tower rises above the tower's roof to form the church's highest point and is surmounted with a weathervane dated 1676. A smaller turret built into the wall on the north side of the tower is 19th-century. The arched west window in the tower is early perpendicular.The north aisle features two large perpendicular windows and a battlemented rood loft stair turret. The rebuilt south aisle has rectangular and arched perpendicular windows. The north and south transepts contain paired lancet windows on their east sides, one of which in the north transept is early 13th century. The end walls of the transepts contain large perpendicular windows. The chancel has lancet windows on the north and south sides and three plain arched windows in the east end constructed in the 19th century.Internally, the nave is divided from the aisles on each side with an arcade of four bays mostly reconstructed in the 19th century. The chancel is also arcaded on each side with for arches, the two western ones on each side giving access to the transepts. The nave and the south transept roofs are built with moulded crown posts. The rest of the roof has plain ceilings.The font has an ogee-shaped wooden cover and the south wall of the chancel contains a piscina. Two monumental brasses are set into the chancel floor dedicated to John and Dorothy Hooper (d. 1617 and 1648).The churchyard contains a war memorial and a number of Grade II listed headstones and a Grade II listed tomb. Adjacent to the church yard on the south side are the earthwork remains of a Norman ringwork fortification, a scheduled monument.