Butt Road Roman Church
During excavations in the 1980s for a new police station close to the Maldon Road roundabout, 371 Roman graves and a long narrow building were excavated.
The building was constructed between AD320 and 340. That is just a few years after Christianity was adopted by the Emperor Constantine in 313AD. Oriented east to west, an apse was added to the east end in a later phase. The building was divided by a wooden screen and two rows of posts ran down the eastern half forming aisles.
The building has been interpreted on strong circumstantial evidence as an early Christian church. If this is correct, it is probably the earliest known Christian church in Britain. The remains have been preserved and are visible.
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