Bignor Roman Villa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Bignor Roman Villa |
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Bignor Roman Villa, museum buildings
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Romano-British Villa |
| Location | Bignor, England |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 50°55′24″N 0°35′41″W / 50.92325°N 0.59475°W |
| Construction started | c. 190 AD |
| Completed | c. 350 AD |
| Closed | c. 400 AD (abandoned) |
The Bignor Roman Villa is a large Roman villa in West Sussex, England. It has been dug up by archaeologists and is now open for people to visit. This villa is famous for its amazing mosaic floors. These mosaics are some of the most complete and detailed in the whole country.
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Where is Bignor Roman Villa?
The villa is located in the countryside, just north of the South Downs. It is close to an old Roman road called Stane Street. This road connected the Roman city of Noviomagus Reginorum (which is now Chichester) to London.
Bignor Villa is about nine miles northeast of Chichester. It sits on a gentle slope of land that was good for farming. This land was much better for growing crops than the nearby chalk hills. Being close to Chichester and having good farmland helped the villa's owners become very rich from farming.
How the Villa Grew Over Time
Archaeologists have found signs of a Roman-British farm here as early as the late 1st century AD. The first actual building was a simple wooden farm structure built around 190 AD.
Later, in the middle of the 3rd century AD, a stone building with four rooms was constructed. This building was made bigger between about 240 and 290 AD. New rooms were added, along with a hypocaust (an ancient Roman system for heating floors). A portico (a covered walkway with columns) was also added, facing east towards Stane Street.
Around 300 AD, this building became the western part of an even larger villa. North and south wings were added, creating a big complex. In its final form, the villa had about sixty-five rooms surrounding a central courtyard. There were also several other farm buildings nearby. The last major building work happened between 300 and 350 AD, adding more to the north wing. This is where most of the beautiful mosaics are found today.
We don't know much about what happened to the villa after that. It seems to have slowly become less important over time. It didn't suffer a sudden disaster, like the fire that destroyed much of the nearby Fishbourne Roman Palace.
How it Was Found and Explored
A farmer named George Tupper discovered the villa in 1811. His plough hit a large stone, which turned out to be part of the ancient building.
Soon after, John Hawkins, who lived nearby, and Samuel Lysons, an expert in ancient things, excavated almost the entire villa. It was opened to the public in 1814 and quickly became a popular place to visit. In the first nine months, nearly a thousand people signed the visitors' book!
By 1815, a large part of the villa had been uncovered. Special buildings were put up to protect several of the delicate mosaics. Samuel Lysons shared his findings with the Society of Antiquaries of London. He also published detailed drawings of the villa. These drawings and his writings are the only records we have of the first excavations. The digging stopped in 1819 after Samuel Lysons passed away.
No more major work was done until 1925, when S. E. Winbolt did some small excavations. From 1956 to 1962, Sheppard Frere re-excavated parts of the villa. He was the first to try and figure out the villa's timeline. Since then, Thomas Tupper, a direct descendant of the farmer who found the villa, has continued the excavations. He worked with Margaret Rule in the 1970s and David Rudling in the 1980s. His family still owns the site today.
Amazing Mosaics
The rooms you can see today are mostly in the western part of the north wing. These include a summer dining room and a winter dining room, which had underfloor heating. The bathhouse is located to the southeast.
These rooms contain some of the best Roman mosaics found in Great Britain. They are incredibly well-preserved and show amazing artistic skill and detail. One of the most impressive features is the northern corridor, which has a beautiful Greek-key pattern. It stretches for about 79 feet (24 meters), making it the longest mosaic corridor in Britain!
