<P> Place - name evidence may indicate some locations which were used as places of worship by the pre-Christian Anglo - Saxons . However, no unambiguous archaeological evidence currently supports the interpretation of these sites as places of cultic practice . Two words that appear repeatedly in Old English place names hearg and wēoh, have been interpreted as being references to cult spaces, however it is likely that the two terms had distinctive meanings . These hearg locations were all found on high ground, with Wilson suggesting that these represented a communal place of worship for a specific group, such as the tribe, at a specific time of year . The archaeologist Sarah Semple also examined a number of such sites, noting that while they all reflected activity throughout later prehistory and the Romano - British period, they had little evidence from the sixth and seventh centuries CE . She suggested that rather than referring to specifically Anglo - Saxon cultic sites, hearg was instead used in reference to "something British in tradition and usage ." </P> <P> Highlighting that while wēoh sites vary in their location, some being on high ground and others on low ground, Wilson noted that the majority were very close to ancient routeways . Accordingly, he suggested that the term wēoh denoted a "small, wayside shrine, accessible to the traveller". Given that some wēoh - sites were connected to the name of an individual, Wilson suggested that such individuals may have been the owner or guardian of the shrine . </P> <P> A number of place - names including reference to pre-Christian deities compound these names with the Old English word lēah ("wood", or "clearing in a wood"), and this may have attested to a sacred grove at which cultic practice took place . A number of other place - names associate the deity's name with a high point in the landscape, such as dūn or hōh, which might represent that such spots were considered particularly appropriate for cultic practice . In six examples, the deity's name is associated with feld ("open land"), in which case these might have been sanctuaries located to specifically benefit the agricultural actions of the community . </P> <P> Some Old English place names make reference to an animal's head, among them Gateshead ("Goat's Head") in Tyne and Wear and Worms Heath ("Snake's Head") in Surrey . It is possible that some of these names had pagan religious origins, perhaps referring to a sacrificed animal's head that was erected on a pole, or a carved representation of one; equally some or all of these place - names may have been descriptive metaphors for local landscape features . </P>

Who brought the germanic and scandinavian beliefs to england