Rockbourne Roman Villa is a
Roman courtyard villa excavated and put on public display in the
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
of
Rockbourne
Rockbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire, close to Fordingbridge.
Overview
Rockbourne is a village of thatched, brick and timber houses, next to a stream now known as Sweatfords Water.[Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...]
. The villa was discovered in 1942 by a local farmer and excavated by A. T. Morley Hewitt over the next thirty years.
The main structure was a large residence surrounding a courtyard, including luxurious Roman
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
s and bath suites. There were also farm buildings and workshops since it sat at the centre of large farming estate. Its origins lie in the
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
and it was occupied until the 5th century. Parts of the villa are on public display and there is a site museum, with excavated artefacts, tracing the villa's history.
Overview
Rockbourne Roman villa is located at West Park,
near the village of
Rockbourne
Rockbourne is a village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire, close to Fordingbridge.
Overview
Rockbourne is a village of thatched, brick and timber houses, next to a stream now known as Sweatfords Water.[Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...]
.
It is 5 km northwest of the town of
Fordingbridge
Fordingbridge is a town and broader civil parish with a population of 6,000 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England, near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest, famed for its late medieva ...
.
The villa once stood in the centre of a large farming estate, and is the largest known villa in the area.
The villa was discovered in 1942 by a farmer digging out a ferret, and finding quantities of oyster shells and subsequently a
mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
floor.
Recognising the significance of the finds, the land was bought by A. T. Morley Hewitt who conducted excavations every summer from 1956 to 1978.
Early excavators sometimes failed to excavate adequately or make proper records of the finds, which hampered attempts to understand the chronology of the site. Many animal bones and pottery fragments were also discarded during this period.
Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...
bought the site in 1979, and it was the limited re-excavations led by I. P. Horsey during the period 1978-82 which allowed a better understanding of the many changes to the villa over its 400-year history of occupation.
The villa may have formed a pair with a villa discovered at
Downton 8 km to the northeast. Rockbourne and Downton may well have controlled extensive pasture land on their respective sides of the
River Avon.
Excavations approximately 1.5 km to the southeast of Rockbourne at Allen's Farm show that pottery was being produced in kilns during the late 3rd century. Such a close proximity to the villa at Rockbourne suggests that the pottery kilns may have been part of the villa estate.
Monument No. 217335
Pastscape
History of the Villa
1st century
Originally the site was occupied by a timber roundhouse with a chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
floor, of a type common in the Late Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...
. In the 1st century this was replaced by a small rectangular stone house. Adjacent to it, and set well apart, at a right angle, a work-hall was built.
2nd century
Around 150 the small house was demolished for a larger building. The new house was a larger row-house consisting of an important middle room with smaller rooms to the north and south of it. The house was aligned with the older work-hall, but kept apart from it. This was the beginning of the west wing. Later in the century a small bath suite was added to this west house. The most unusual feature of this west bath suite is that the pilae in the underfloor hypocaust
A hypocaust ( la, hypocaustum) is a system of central heating in a building that produces and circulates hot air below the floor of a room, and may also warm the walls with a series of pipes through which the hot air passes. This air can warm th ...
heating system were built from curved roof tiles ('' imbrices'') rather than from stacks of bricks.
3rd century
More ranges and buildings were added during the 3rd century creating a courtyard villa. Around 200, a new north wing was built attached to the west wing There may have been a small bath suite in the north wing, but later in the century, a separate, detached, bath house was built on the north wing. The best preserved mosaic
A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...
floors are in the north wing. The mosaics all have geometric patterns, although none are of especially fine workmanship, and none have figure decoration. At some stage (and the dating is uncertain) the south wing was established, this included an aisled building and a range of work buildings. In 1967 a hoard of 7717 bronze coins was found buried in a pottery jar on the site. The hoard must have been buried around 295, and perhaps suggests that troubled times struck the villa, but the reason why it was never recovered is unknown.
4th century
By the 4th century the villa was now a large courtyard villa enclosed on at least three sides. In total there was probably around 40 rooms in use. The house on the north wing was rebuilt in the 4th century. The bath house on the north wing was also remodelled and then apparently taken out of use, and the bath suite in the west house was enlarged and refurbished.
Decline
By the early 5th century there was a rapid decline in the villa's fortunes. Some of the mosaics were broken up and rudimentary hearths were placed on the floors. Posthole
In archaeology a posthole or post-hole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. They are usually much deeper than they are wide; however, truncation may not make this apparent. Although the remains of the timber may survive, most ...
s from this period may indicate an attempt to prop up the roofs. Troubled times may also be indicated by the hoard, dating from 394-5, of 16 late Roman gold solidi
The ''solidus'' (Latin 'solid'; ''solidi'') or nomisma ( grc-gre, νόμισμα, ''nómisma'', 'coin') was a highly pure gold coin issued in the Late Roman Empire and Byzantine Empire. Constantine introduced the coin, and its weig ...
coins found just 3 km from the site in 1986. The only adult burials found on the site are two which date from the post-Roman period, one of which seems to have been an individual killed by the collapse of the tiled roof.
The site today
The excavations which took place from 1956 to 1976 were open to visitors, but the site has since been placed in the care of Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...
, who have backfilled much of the site to prevent deterioration. Many of the finds from the excavations are on view at the on-site museum, with the remainder stored in Winchester. The finds range from New Forest
The New Forest is one of the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in Southern England, covering southwest Hampshire and southeast Wiltshire. It was proclaimed a royal forest by William the Conqueror, fea ...
pottery to pieces of animal bone. Of particular interest are two much-damaged Roman milestones
A milestone is a marker of distance along roads.
Milestone may also refer to:
Measurements
*Milestone (project management), metaphorically, markers of reaching an identifiable stage in any task or the project
*Software release life cycle state, s ...
found re-used in the building fabric of the villa. One is of Trajan Decius
Gaius Messius Quintus Traianus Decius ( 201 ADJune 251 AD), sometimes translated as Trajan Decius or Decius, was the emperor of the Roman Empire from 249 to 251.
A distinguished politician during the reign of Philip the Arab, Decius was procla ...
(249-51 AD), and the other of Tetricus II
Gaius Pius Esuvius Tetricus (also known as Tetricus II) was the son of Tetricus I, Emperor of the Gallic Empire (270/271-273/274).
In 273, he was raised to the rank of ''Caesar'', with the title of '' princeps iuventutis'', and in January 274 h ...
(272 AD). Another major find was a rectangular table or sideboard
A sideboard, also called a buffet, is an item of furniture traditionally used in the dining room for serving food, for displaying serving dishes, and for storage. It usually consists of a set of cabinets, or cupboards, and one or more drawers ...
carved from stone and ornamented with chip-carved decoration on front and sides.
In 2014, ownership of the Villa was transferred to the Hampshire Cultural Trust
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire is ...
as part of a larger transfer of museums from Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council (HCC) is an English council that governs eleven of the thirteen districts geographically located within the ceremonial county of Hampshire. As one of twenty-four county councils in England, it acts as the upper tier of ...
and Winchester City Council
The City of Winchester () is a local government district in Hampshire, England, with a city status.
The district covers the ancient settlement of the city of Winchester itself, but also covers a large area of central Hampshire including Bis ...
Notes
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*Bruce Eagles, Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England
The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) was a government advisory body responsible for documenting buildings and monuments of archaeological, architectural and historical importance in England. It was established in 19 ...
, (1983), ''West Park Roman villa, Rockbourne, Hampshire'', Archaeological Journal 140, 129-50
*David Allen, (1989), ''Rockbourne Roman Villa: Guide''. Hampshire County Council.
External links
Rockbourne Roman Villa
information from the Hampshire Cultural Trust
{{authority control
Roman villas in Hampshire
Museums in Hampshire
Museums of ancient Rome in the United Kingdom
Archaeological museums in England
1st-century establishments in Roman Britain
5th-century disestablishments in Roman Britain
1942 archaeological discoveries