A Priest's Sceptre from the Romano-Celtic Temple at Farley Heath, Surrey

The Romano-Celtic temples of Britain, unlike those of Gaul, rarely provide evidence of their dedications and the nature of the cults practised within them. At Silchester (Insula XXXV) and also at Worth, Kent, fragments of statuary found within the temple cella have been suggestive, although not conclusive. The remaining examples yet excavated in Britain (some eighteen in all) have been far less communicative: not one has yielded an inscription or votive object which would leave no doubt as to the identity of the god whose worshippers frequented it.Since our knowledge of the local cults popular in the civilian areas of Roman Britain is so limited, an object which, though found ninety years ago at Farley Heath in Surrey, has hitherto escaped publication deserves belated recognition not only for its own sake, because it displays very curious features, but also for the light that it may throw on the subject.