The discovery of a Romano-Celtic temple in 1976 when a water pipe was being laid across fields near the Gloucestershire village of Uley led to extensive excavations. The full excavation report, with summaries, diagrams, photographs of artefacts, and pictures of imagined reconstructions of the temple complex, is in the public domain. It is essential reading to get a feel for the temple and all that was discovered there.
There is now nothing to see but everything to experience at the Temple of Mercury on the Hill of Aruerius. The site itself is a field that is not accessible to the public. It’s location on the Cotswold Escarpment is well worth a visit. It is possible to walk around Uley Bury Hill Fort – that gives a real impression of the splendour of the location. Nearby Hetty Pegler’s Tump, and a little further away Nympsfield Long Barrow also give a feel for the location. The closest to the Temple site is Uley Long Barrow (Hetty Pegler’s Tump).
The Temple of Sulis Minerva at nearby Aquae Sulis, Caerfaddon, Bath, is in many ways very different. Excavations in the Sacred Spring there at much the same time as Uley led to the discovery of a similar cache of curse tablets. An understanding of that temple is helpful in understanding the Uley temple. In her comprehensive study of the Sanctuary at Bath, Eleri Cousins devotes a whole chapter to the importance of ‘experiencing Aquae Sulis’ (Chapter 3). Excavations are going on continually in Bath, and so Peter Davenport’s recent study of the history and archaeology of Bath helps to set the context too.
Cousins, Eleri H. The Sanctuary at Bath in the Roman Empire. Cambridge Classical Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
Davenport, Peter. Roman Bath: A New History and Archaeology of Aquae Sulis. Stroud: The History Press, 2021.