There is little doubt that Wotton, or at least the woods around it, were inhabited from the late Neolithic. The remains of thee prehistoric barrows are still visible near the town: both a long and a round barrow near Symonds Hall Farm and a round barrow on Blackquarries Hill.

There is more evidence for human habitation in a later period: even the most casual walker on the Cotswold Way could not fail to notice some strange ditches in the woods above Wotton. These are the remains of an Iron Age Fort, known as Brackenbury Ditches.

The 350 years of Roman occupation left a legacy that is still visible today around the Cotswolds. The nearest local archaeological finds are the remains of a Roman villa at Wortley and some pottery in Clay Bottom. Not far from Wotton are the remains of a Roman villa at Kingscote which was excavated in the 1970s.

Very few items are left from these times. The Heritage Centre, however, has on display some Iron Age tools and arrowheads as well as some Roman pottery and mosaics.