Jordan Hill Roman Temple in Weymouth

The ruin of a small 4-5th century AD Roman temple set in a beautiful position on a hill overlooking Bowleaze Cove and Weymouth Bay

All that remain of Jordan Hill Roman Temple in Weymouth are the foundations and the base of the walls, which are over one metre thick and enclose an area of about 80 square metres. The site is now owned by English Heritage and there is free, year-round access.

Amateur excavations in 1843 found coins that suggest the site was used in the 4th century, which was during the later years of the Roman occupation. However, finds such animal bones and bull horns suggest the site had also been used during Iron Age times. In the southeast corner of the temple, archaeologists found a shaft about four metres deep containing two urns, a spearhead and a sword in a stone cist at its base. Above this cist were deposited 16 layers of ash and charcoal, each containing the remains of a bird (including buzzard, raven, starling and crow) along with a coin and separated from the next layer with roofing slabs. Why these pagan offerings were being made so late in the Roman occupation of the British Isles is not known, as Christianity was already becoming established in Britain by this time. In the land surrounding Weymouth's Jordan Hill Roman Temple were found the remains of around 100 burials.

It has also been suggested that this site may have been a late 4th century signal station.