This volume had its origins in a conference held in Sussex in 2002 on ‘Roman Temples and Religion in South-East England’ with additional offered and requested papers. ‘South-East England’ here comprises Sussex, Surrey, Kent and London, with the addition of Hayling Island in Hampshire; there are also occasional slightly distracting forays north of the Thames into the eastern region. The content of county summaries, temple case studies and papers on aspects of religion and superstition works well in general, but the absence of a summary for Kent detracts from the balance, as does the paper for Sussex, which accounts for 20 per cent of the book compared to the 10 per cent or less of the other papers.

The general reader would be advised to start with the eighth paper rather than the first. This lucid account by Jean Bagnall-Smith of ‘Aspects of votive offerings in south-east Britain’ explains the nature of the relationship between worshipper and deity and the structural and artefactual evidence for that relationship. The paper that was placed first in the volume is a less inclusive summary by Ernest Black on ‘Pagan religion in rural south-east Britain’. This is dominated by a search for evidence from Kent for the Celtic mallet-god Sucellos and his consort Nantosuelta, mainly in the form of dogs, ravens and pots in pits and shafts or other votive contexts. There are frequent diversions north of the Thames, which provide a wider British context. Jenny Hall and John Shepherd’s ‘Places of worship in Roman London and beyond’ is a well-illustrated summary of the evidence for classical, eastern, and Celtic cults in the City and Greater London. The quality of the stonework recovered from the riverside wall and the Mithraeum is never less than remarkable on a first or any subsequent viewing. Quality is also evident in the case-study paper by Phil Andrews on ‘Springhead, Kent — old temple and new discoveries’, in this case quality of evidence and preservation. The springs at the source of the Ebbsfleet were the focus of ritual attention from at least the late Iron Age, and the recovery of Roman period features such as a bakery, a screen, and terraces used as viewing and feasting platforms all add depth and individuality to the more usual sanctuary structures. David Bird’s summary of ‘Roman-period temples and religion in Surrey’ considers the wider associations of deities, dogs and pots, along with other animals, priests and their regalia, sacred springs and other revered loci. The importance of river crossings, road junctions and topography is highlighted. A range of rituals and votive practices are described, and the wider possibilities yet to be recovered or fully understood are hinted at by miniature pots at Frensham that may have held cannabis. The Surrey case study is ‘The Wanborough temple site’ by David Williams, who outlines the sequence of the structures and the nature of the votive offerings and also draws attention to the illicit metal-detecting on the site that led to the present Treasure Act, but still continues today.

In ‘Roman-period temples, shrines and religion in Sussex’ David Rudling first gives examples of later Iron Age ritual sites and practices in the area. The individual sections on Roman period sites are valuable summaries, and the evidence ranges from the Imperial cult through a variety of pagan sites to Christianity. The Romano-British respect for prehistoric sites and burials must have been driven by local superstition passed down the centuries in folk tales. ‘Hayling Island: a Gallo-Roman temple in Britain’, by Anthony King and Grahame Soffe, consists of a brief summary followed by an extensive bibliography that will be appreciated by future researchers. Alex Smith on ‘The fate of pagan temples in south-east Britain during the late and post-Roman period’ examines the (lack of) evidence for conflict between Christians and pagans in the fourth century, and instead links the decline of temples to a decline in the economy. Finally, Martin Henig’s ‘And did those feet in ancient times: Christian churches and pagans shrines in south-east Britain’ tackles the presence and role of Christians in the transition from Romano-British to Anglo-Saxon Britain, and the morphing of sacred sites from pagan into Christian. Indexes do not often call for comment, but this one has several oddly fussy infelicities, e.g. Celtic gods and cults grouped together under ‘Celtic’, Roman and Classical gods under ‘Gods’; place-names grouped together under ‘Place’, and subdivided into Britain and Europe, county and country.

The volume is well-illustrated, useful, readable, thought-provoking, even entertaining. The complexities and consistencies of worship at all levels, from popular superstition to Imperial cult, are all here, making the book and its bibliographies a valuable starting point for new research as well as a summary of present knowledge.