Archaeologists working near Cirencester over the Oxfordshire border in Gloucestershire have made the discovery.

This includes coins and iron spearheads, as well as miniature bronze shields and spearheads, at a major ‘votive’ site dating back to the late Iron Age.

The site was first discovered by a metal detectorist in 2020 when a hoard of more than 150 silver and bronze coins and metalwork, which has now been acquired by the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, was uncovered.

READ MORE: Oxford University college buys Stonemason House for £6.7m

An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

This further archaeological work, conducted by the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) as part of a training excavation for the university’s MSc students, has now revealed the scale and national importance of the site.

Working with the original finder and in collaboration with the landowner, archaeologists were able to relocate the original hoard pit and place it in its historic context.

Professor Mark Horton, the RAU’s Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, who is also Director of the University’s Cultural Heritage Institute, which offers MSc programmes in Archaeology, Cultural Heritage, and Historic Building Conservation, ran the excavations.

READ MORE: Cotswolds music festival named the UK’s must-visit summer event

An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

He explained: “Our archaeologists found that the hoard had been inserted into a sacred precinct marked out by a large area of cobbled pavement.

“These stones were worn flat by extensive wear, which suggests that some form of mass processional activity took place around the central area of the sacred site.

“During our excavations, we also discovered multiple spears which had been inserted, often vertically, into the soil to ‘protect’ this central area.

“Some were iron, but others were miniature spears, sometimes less than an inch in length, made of bronze.

READ MORE: Country home for sale at £1.5m after two cottages knocked into one

Professor Mark Horton of the Royal Agricultural University. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

“Model swords and scabbards, daggers, and shields, also made of bronze, were found scattered around this central deposit.

“These would have been used as ritual offerings, known as ‘votives’, and many of these had been deliberately broken into pieces to signify that they were offerings to the gods and were not to be recovered and reused.”

The site rested over a series of small pits cut into the local Cotswold limestone and filled with a fine soil, which the archaeologists believe had been introduced to the site.

These pits were completely empty of any artefacts, and the researchers think these holes may have been deliberately cut into the bedrock to plant trees or bushes.

READ MORE: Edwardian £3.95m country mansion with swimming pool up for sale

An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

Professor Horton added: “This is a major find. We know so little about the Iron Age or Celtic religion beyond the literary sources, written by the classical authors.

“Here we have direct archaeological evidence of religious practices at the very end of the Iron Age, on the eve of the Roman invasion.

“The many coins found show that the site belonged to the Dobunni tribe, whose capital was at Bagendon, just a few miles away from our dig site.

“Our newly discovered site was likely a natural place, or possibly a grove of trees, where offerings were made to the Celtic gods.”

READ MORE: Two Cotswolds towns named among top 50 spots in UK for 2026

An ancient Celtic sacred site has been uncovered by archaeologists in the Cotswolds. (Image: Royal Agricultural University)

Many of the coins from the hoard feature a distinctive three-tailed horse motif, which is believed to be typical of the Dobunni tribe.

The original hoard of coins, which was officially declared Treasure under the Treasure Act, has now been secured by Cirencester’s Corinium Museum, which raised £13,250 for its acquisition.

£25,000 is now needed to be raised for the objects’ conservation and display, and a fundraising campaign is being led by the Friends of Corinium Museum, with the aim of getting the hoard on display to the public sometime next year.

The excavation site has now been refilled to protect the site, but Professor Horton hopes that the RAU will be able to undertake another excavation next year.

The TV legend was a judge on the show during the BBC years between 2010 and 2016, before it left for Channel 4.

She has lived in Henley, in the south of Oxfordshire, with her husband Paul Hunnings, since 2019, having previously lived in London.

Now, Dame Mary has opened up about recently turning 91 years of age to House & Garden.

READ MORE: Cotswolds music festival named the UK’s must-visit summer event

Speaking in the Cotswolds, she said: “In my later years, I’ve enjoyed fashion.

“Because I’m lucky to be fairly fit and I don’t want to be mutton dressed up as lamb, I try to wear clothes that are comfy, never too tight, and that people will admire and look at and say ‘Oh, I’d like one of those’. But nothing too flashy.

“When you’re [older] – I mean I’m 91 – you really don’t have to go into black and grey and boring.”

This comes after Dame Mary was on hand to help open Audley Shiplake Meadows on Reading Road in Henley.

READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson reveals young farmers are supporting Reform UK

The retirement village is home to 65 senior living apartments, duplex penthouses and cottages for people over the age of 65 years old.

At the retirement home unveiling, Dame Mary said: “It was such a joy to be part of Audley Shiplake Meadows’ official opening event.

“Having called this area home for the past seven years, I know the new homeowners will be very happy here.”

Dame Mary was also recently awarded the Bafta Fellowship for her exceptional contribution to television.

“What an honour for a cook to receive the Bafta Fellowship,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it – for just doing what I love.”

The former Top Gear presenter has spent recent years documenting his attempts to run Diddly Squat Farm in Oxfordshire in the hit series Clarkson’s Farm.

Filmed on his Cotswolds farm, the programme follows the ups and downs of life in modern agriculture alongside co‑star Kaleb Cooper.

The new series is released tomorrow (Wednesday, June 3) on Prime Video, with Mr Clarkson again using his platform to speak out on farming and politics.

READ MORE: Jeremy Clarkson ‘parties in pub until 4.30am’ celebrating win

Speaking to Times Radio on Monday, he claimed: “I don’t think there’s a farmer alive who’s Labour any more.”

The former Top Gear presenter revealed that Nigel Farage’s Reform UK appears to be gaining ground with younger people working in the industry.

Drawing on conversations with Mr Cooper, Mr Clarkson found out that young farmers are now supporting the right-wing political party.

READ MORE: Urinal blocks are being stolen from Jeremy Clarkson’s Cotswolds pub

The 66-year-old said: “This government is truly useless — we do know that — and is doing nothing for farming, in fact being actually damaging to farming.”

He argued that many in the next generation of farmers were now looking elsewhere for political representation.

Mr Clarkson added: “One party in particular that seems to be doing very well with the young farmers. Kaleb tells me all of his friends, all of them [support] Reform.

“Beyond that, I couldn’t really say what anybody else is thinking. I mean, this government is truly useless.”