The four criteria for assessing class importance apply to temples as follows:
- Period (currency): Extended.Romano-Celtic temples were built in England throughout the Roman period from the mid 1st century onwards. The peaks of building occurred in the late 1st and late 3rd centuries AD. Although new temples were built in the 4th century there is also a concurrent pattern of destruction and decline. A few continued in use into the 5th century. There is no evidence for reuse as religious structures after this time.
- Rarity: Rare. There are approximately 150 recorded examples of temples in England. The overwhelming majority of these sites are in the south and east.
- Diversity: Medium. There are three main types of Romano-Celtic temple.
- Period (representativity): Low. Romano-Celtic temples are one of many classes of Roman monument known in England, and one of three main classes of temple.
Assigning scores to these criteria according to the system set out in the Monuments Evaluation Manual, native temples yield a Class Importance Value of 23. This lies over one-third of the way up the range of possible values (max.64) reflecting the fact that Romano-Celtic temples are a rare but enduring characteristic of Roman Britain. Examples representing the range of types and the variety of Roman contexts in which they are found should be included in the sample of nationally important sites.