Sparsholt Roman Villa

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Sparsholt Roman Villa

Butser Farm Roman Villa.jpg

Reconstruction of Sparsholt Roman Villa at Butser Ancient Farm
Hampshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within Hampshire
General information
Location Sparsholt, Hampshire
grid reference SU415301
Country United Kingdom
Coordinates 51°04′09″N1°24′34″W / 51.0691°N 1.4095°W / 51.0691; -1.4095 Coordinates: 51°04′09″N1°24′34″W / 51.0691°N 1.4095°W / 51.0691; -1.4095
Construction started 2nd century
Demolished 5th century

Sparsholt Roman Villa was a Roman villa near the village of Sparsholt, Hampshire, England. It was constructed in phases from the 2nd to the 5th century, and then abandoned. It was excavated in 1965–72. Nothing is visible at the site today, but finds from the excavations are on display in Winchester City Museum, and one wing of the villa has been reconstructed at Butser Ancient Farm.

Roman villa type of rural settlement of ancient Rome without walling

A Roman villa was a country house built for the upper class in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, similar in form to the hacienda estates in the colonies of the Spanish Empire.

Sparsholt, Hampshire village in Hampshire, Britain

Sparsholt (/ˈspɑːʃəʊlt/) is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, 2 1⁄2 miles (4 km) west of Winchester. In 1908 its area was 3,672 acres (1,486 ha). The 2011 Census recorded its population as 982.

Butser Ancient Farm Archaeological open-air museum in Windmill Hill, Hampshire

Butser Ancient Farm is an archaeological open-air museum located near Petersfield in Hampshire, southern England. Butser features experimental reconstructions of prehistoric, Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon buildings. Examples of Neolithic dwellings, Iron Age roundhouses, a Romano-British villa and an early Saxon house are on display. The site is used as both a tourist attraction and a site for the undertaking of experimental archaeology. In this latter capacity, it was designed so that archaeologists could learn more about the agricultural and domestic economy in Britain during the millennium that lasted from circa 400 BCE to 400 CE, in what was the Late British Iron Age and Romano-British periods.

Contents

History

The earliest known house uncovered at Sparsholt was a single-aisled farmhouse probably built in the 2nd century. [1] It may initially have been undivided internally, but by 200 AD it had been replaced by an aisled house with living rooms and a bath suite at one end. [2] In the early 4th century a separate winged-corridor house was constructed at right-angles to the aisled house, and both buildings formed two sides of a rectangular enclosure. [2] A barn-like structure was added on the third side of the enclosure. [3] The fourth side contained the entrance to the enclosure which was opposite the winged-corridor house. [3] Tessellated pavements and mosaics were added to both houses. [2]

The last structure to be built, perhaps during the post-Roman period, was a timbered hall, outside the courtyard. [4] This incorporated material plundered from the earlier buildings, but nothing distinctively post-Roman or early Saxon has been found on the site. [4]

Sub-Roman Britain

Sub-Roman Britain refers to the period in Late Antiquity in Great Britain, covering the end of Roman rule in the late 4th and early 5th centuries, and its aftermath into the 6th century. The term "sub-Roman" was originally used to describe archaeological remains such as potsherds found in sites of the 5th and 6th centuries, and hinted at the decay of locally-made wares from a previous higher standard that had existed under the Roman Empire. It is now more often used to denote this period of history instead. The term Post-Roman Britain is also used, mainly in non-archaeological contexts.

Anglo-Saxons Germanic tribes who started to inhabit parts of Great Britain from the 5th century onwards

The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited Great Britain from the 5th century, and the direct ancestors of the majority of the modern British people. They comprise people from Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe, their descendants, and indigenous British groups who adopted many aspects of Anglo-Saxon culture and language; the cultural foundations laid by the Anglo-Saxons are the foundation of the modern English legal system and of many aspects of English society; the modern English language owes over half its words – including the most common words of everyday speech – to the language of the Anglo-Saxons. Historically, the Anglo-Saxon period denotes the period in Britain between about 450 and 1066, after their initial settlement and up until the Norman conquest. The early Anglo-Saxon period includes the creation of an English nation, with many of the aspects that survive today, including regional government of shires and hundreds. During this period, Christianity was established and there was a flowering of literature and language. Charters and law were also established. The term Anglo-Saxon is popularly used for the language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons in England and eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. In scholarly use, it is more commonly called Old English.

Excavation and display

Sparsholt Villa mosaic in Winchester City Museum Sparsholt Villa Mosaic - Winchester City Museum.JPG
Sparsholt Villa mosaic in Winchester City Museum

The villa is located in West Wood, just west of the village of Sparsholt, Hampshire. Trial excavations were conducted in 1890 and 1895 which revealed part of the plan of the villa. [4] Excavations, which were led by David E. Johnston, were conducted from 1965–72. [5] Nothing is visible on the ground today.

On display in Winchester City Museum is a near-intact 4th-century geometric mosaic taken from the aisled building. [6] Also on display in the museum is a fresco containing a female portrait within a tondo, which may show the mistress of the house. [6] Another fresco is a painted version of a guilloché – a type of pattern common in mosaics but extremely rare in Roman frescos. [6]

Fresco Mural painting upon freshly laid lime plaster

Fresco is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid, or wet lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaster, the painting becomes an integral part of the wall. The word fresco is derived from the Italian adjective fresco meaning "fresh", and may thus be contrasted with fresco-secco or secco mural painting techniques, which are applied to dried plaster, to supplement painting in fresco. The fresco technique has been employed since antiquity and is closely associated with Italian Renaissance painting.

Tondo (art) circular work of art

A tondo is a Renaissance term for a circular work of art, either a painting or a sculpture. The word derives from the Italian rotondo, "round." The term is usually not used in English for small round paintings, but only those over about 60 cm in diameter, thus excluding many round portrait miniatures – for sculpture the threshold is rather lower.

Guilloché decorative technique

Guilloché ,(or guilloche) is a decorative technique in which a very precise, intricate and repetitive pattern is mechanically engraved into an underlying material via engine turning, which uses a machine of the same name, also called a rose engine lathe. This mechanical technique improved on more time-consuming designs achieved by hand and allowed for greater delicacy, precision, and closeness of line, as well as greater speed.

At Butser Ancient Farm near Petersfield is a reconstruction of the aisled villa building. [5] The building was constructed by volunteers and includes a functioning hypocaust system. [5]

Hypocaust Ancient Roman system of underfloor heating

A hypocaust 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 the upper floors as well. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt". The earliest reference to such a system suggests that the temple of Ephesus in 350 BC was heated in this manner, although Vitruvius attributes its invention to Sergius Orata in c.80 BC. Its invention improved the hygiene and living conditions of citizens, and was a forerunner of modern central heating.

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David E Johnston is a classical archaeologist and former lecturer at the University of Southampton. His excavations have included the Sparsholt Roman Villa, and he has authored numerous books and research papers on Roman archaeology, art and mosaics from the 1960s to the 2010s.

The Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society is a local history and archaeological society for Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1885 by Thomas W. Shore. It publishes a newsletter, monograms and other longer publications, and a journal Hampshire Studies: Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society. The society has published the second series of Hampshire Papers since 2015, following on from the first series which was published by the Hampshire Record Office between 1991 and 2010.

References

  1. ↑ Dominic Perring, (2002), The Roman House in Britain, pages 53–4. Routledge
  2. 1 2 3 Richard Hingley, (1989), Rural settlement in Roman Britain, page 69. Seaby
  3. 1 2 Guy De la Bédoyère, (1993), Book of Roman villas and the countryside, page 63. English Heritage
  4. 1 2 3 Monument No. 231909, Pastscape
  5. 1 2 3 David E. Johnston, (2002), Discovering Roman Britain, pages 61–2. Osprey
  6. 1 2 3 Roger John Anthony Wilson, (2002), A guide to the Roman remains in Britain, page 113. Constable

Further reading

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