Brantingham Roman villa facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Brantingham Roman villa |
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|---|---|
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Romano-British Villa |
| Location | Brantingham, East Riding of Yorkshire |
| Country | England |
| OS grid reference | SE 9317 2882 |
| Construction started | c. 2nd century |
The Brantingham Roman villa was a large, fancy Roman country house. It is located near the village of Brantingham in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Today, it is a scheduled monument, which means it's a very important historical site protected by law. This villa gives us clues about how wealthy Romans lived in Britain long ago.
Discovering the Roman Villa
The Brantingham Roman villa was first found by accident in 1941. Workers were digging for stone at the Cockle Pits quarry when they uncovered something amazing. They found two beautiful floors made of tiny colored tiles, called mosaics.
Later, in 1961, archaeologists did more digging. They found the actual remains of the villa building. It had a very large room with a mosaic floor. This room was about 11 meters long and 7.7 meters wide. There was also a corridor that led to four other rooms. Imagine how grand this house must have been!
Even more digging happened in 1983. This time, they found older things beneath the Roman villa. They discovered ditches from the British Iron Age, which was a time before the Romans arrived. After that, they found rectangular buildings that were part of the Roman villa. These buildings were used from the 2nd century AD to the 4th century AD. This shows the site was important for a long time.
The Amazing Mosaics
The two mosaics found in 1941 were very special. After they were first found, they were carefully recorded and then covered up again. In 1948, they were dug up once more. The plan was to move them to the Hull and East Riding Museum so everyone could see them.
However, something very strange happened. After the mosaics were ready to be moved, the larger one disappeared! It was stolen and has never been found since. There was even a local story that it might have been put on a military plane and flown to America the very next day.
Both of the mosaics found in 1941 had cool geometric patterns. The stolen mosaic was quite big, measuring about 3.5 meters long and 2 meters wide. It's a shame such a valuable piece of history was lost.
