Wymondley Roman Villa is a ruined Roman villa near Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England. It is also known as Ninesprings Roman Villa. It is situated in the valley of the River Purwell in the parish of Great Wymondley. [1] [2] In Roman times, as now, the villa would have been above a wetland. This natural feature is protected as the Purwell Ninesprings nature reserve.
East of the villa there is an agricultural landscape extending towards a Roman road at Graveley. Wymondley is believed to preserve a field system of Roman origin; this early date for the field boundaries was posited by Frederic Seebohm in the late 19th century (around the time the villa was excavated), [3] and his theory is largely accepted by later scholars. [4]
There is evidence of other Roman buildings at Great Wymondley, near the villa and in the centre of the modern village. We do not know on basis the Romans allotted land at Wymondley. Applebaum speculates that some of the land was farmed by tenants of the villa's owners. [5] The people who lived at the villa may have been descendants of the pre-Roman British warrior aristocracy, because at some places the Romans returned the land to its original inhabitants. However, at other places the Romans are known to have formed what they called colonia by distributing land to their army veterans.
On the evidence of the continuity in field boundaries, the Anglo-Saxon settlement did not make a big change in the way the land was managed. In this respect, the medieval manor perhaps had a similar function to the Roman villa. However, excavations of the villa found evidence of "squatter hearths" at the villa itself. [1] These features indicate activity, probably in the post-Roman period, by people who had no use for the luxurious installations at Wymondley such as heating by hypocaust and mosaic flooring.
The site was partly excavated in 1884, [6] revealing the remains of several rooms. Three of the rooms were heated by hypocaust. While the remains have traditionally been described as a villa, this may be a misnomer. It has been posited that they belong to the integral bath suite of a villa, or alternatively a separate bathhouse. [7]
The site, which is now under farmland, can be accessed via the Hitchin outer orbital path (HOOP). [8]
Finds at the site include Roman mosaic, [9] and Roman currency including a coin hoard, believed to have been deposited in the 3rd century, [10] which consisted of radiates. [11] On the evidence of coins found at the site, the villa may have been established shortly after 200 with occupation continuing until the 4th century. [6]
Lullingstone Roman Villa is a villa built during the Roman occupation of Britain, situated in Lullingstone near the village of Eynsford in Kent, south-eastern England. The villa is located in the Darent Valley, along with six others, including those at Crofton, Crayford and Dartford. Constructed in the 1st century, perhaps around 80–90 AD, the house was repeatedly expanded and occupied until it was destroyed by fire in the 4th or 5th century. The villa was occupied over various periods within the Romano-British period, but after its destruction, it is only thought to have been reoccupied during the medieval period. The occupants were most likely wealthy Romans or native Britons who had adopted Roman customs.
Great Wymondley is a village and former civil parish situated near Hitchin, now in the parish of Wymondley, in the North Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. Despite the names, Great Wymondley is a smaller settlement than its neighbour, Little Wymondley. In 1931 the parish had a population of 285.
Chedworth Roman Villa is located near Chedworth, Gloucestershire, England and is a scheduled monument. It is one of the largest and most elaborate Roman villas so far discovered in Britain and one with the latest occupation beyond the Roman period. The villa was built in phases from the early 2nd century to the 5th century, with the 4th-century construction transforming the building into an elite dwelling arranged around three sides of a courtyard. The 4th-century building included a heated and furnished west wing containing a dining-room (triclinium) with a fine mosaic floor, as well as two separate bathing suites: one for damp-heat and one for dry-heat.
Vacone is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Rieti in the Italian region of Latium, located about 20 kilometres (12 mi) west of Rieti.
Rockbourne Roman Villa is a Roman courtyard villa excavated and put on public display in the village of Rockbourne in the English county of Hampshire. The villa was discovered in 1942 by a local farmer and excavated by A. T. Morley Hewitt over the next thirty years.
Bignor Roman Villa is a large Roman courtyard villa which has been excavated and put on public display on the Bignor estate in the English county of West Sussex. It is well known for its high quality mosaic floors, which are some of the most complete and intricate in the country. It is managed by the Bignor Roman Villa Charitable Trust, a registered charity.
Brading Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa which has been excavated and put on public display in Brading on the Isle of Wight.
Littlecote Roman Villa is an extensive and exceptional Roman villa, with associated religious complex, at Littlecote Park just over a mile west of Hungerford, Berkshire. It has been excavated and is on display to the public in the grounds of the estate.
Kingscote is a village and civil parish in the Cotswold district of Gloucestershire, England, set on the uplands near the south western edge of the Cotswold hills. It is situated about two miles (3 km) east of Uley, five miles (8 km) east of Dursley and four miles (6 km) west of Tetbury. The landscape is designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The hamlet of Newington Bagpath lies to the west of the village; the parish lands extend near to the small village of Owlpen.
Kings Weston Roman Villa is a Roman villa in Lawrence Weston in the north-west of Bristol. The villa was discovered during the construction of the Lawrence Weston housing estate in 1947. Two distinct buildings were discovered. The Eastern building was fully excavated, the other lies mostly below Long Cross road. Finds from the site are now held in the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery.
North Leigh Roman Villa was a Roman courtyard villa in the Evenlode Valley about 0.5 miles (800 m) north of the hamlet of East End in North Leigh civil parish in Oxfordshire. It is a scheduled monument in the care of English Heritage and is open to the public.
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.
Folkestone Roman Villa, also referred to as the East Bay Site, is a villa built during the Roman Occupation of Britain, and is located in East Wear Bay near the port town of Folkestone, in Kent, England. The villa is situated on a cliff top overlooking the English Channel, with views of the French coast at Boulogne on a clear day. It is situated near the start of the North Downs Trackway, and the area has been inhabited for thousands of years, with archeological finds in the area and at the villa site dating back to the Mesolithic and Neolithic ages. The villa was built around A. D. 75, and was almost certainly built within the confines of a preexisting Iron Age settlement.
Keynsham Roman Villa refers to a cluster of villas built during the Roman occupation of Britain near Keynsham in Somerset, England. Two villas have been found, the larger of which is thought to be one of the grandest villas constructed in all of Britain. The sites have never been fully excavated, in part because portions of each are located underneath a cemetery, a major road, and the now shuttered Somerdale Chocolate Factory.
Totternhoe Roman villa is on Church Farm, Church Road, in Totternhoe, Bedfordshire, England. No sign of it is now visible, as it has been filled in and grassed over.
Boxmoor Roman Villa is a ruined Roman Villa at Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. The remains have been excavated, but they are now buried. The Roman villa was occupied from the first century AD up to the Fourth century.
At Eccles in Kent the remains of a huge Roman Villa with palatial dimensions were excavated between 1962 and 1976. In the second century AD, the villa was almost 112 m long. Over 135 different rooms have been identified throughout the various periods of construction and reconstruction. The villa was abandoned in the Fourth century and much of it was removed in the Thirteenth century for the construction of Aylesford Priory.
The Carsington Roman Villa is a Roman villa at Scow Brook, Carsington near Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England.
Dalton Parlours Roman villa is a Roman villa and scheduled monument near Collingham, West Yorkshire.
Gayton Thorpe Roman Villa is the site of a Roman villa, near Gayton Thorpe and about 5 miles (8 km) east of King's Lynn, in Norfolk, England. It was discovered in 1906 and first excavated in the 1920s, when two winged corridor buildings were found. The site is a scheduled monument.