Wanstead Roman Villa facts for kids

The Wanstead Roman Villa was a large Roman house or estate building. It was located in what is now Wanstead Park in London. We don't know the exact spot where it stood.

Archaeologists dug in the area in 1985. They found signs that Romans lived here from the 1st to the 5th century AD. But they didn't find the main villa building itself.

Discovering the Roman Villa's Past

People have known about Roman remains in Wanstead for a long time. One of the most exciting finds was a beautiful floor mosaic.

The Amazing Mosaic Floor

In 1715, a gardener named Adam Holt found a mosaic. This was a floor made of many small, colored tiles.

A man named Smart Lethieullier described it in 1735. He said the mosaic was about 20 feet long and 16 feet wide. It was made of small square tiles in black, white, and red. There was a border around it, about a foot wide. This border had red square tiles. Inside the border were many designs. In the middle, there was a picture of a man riding an animal. He was holding something in his hands.

Other Roman Finds

Smart Lethieullier owned land next to Wanstead Park. He said the mosaic was on a gentle hill. Close by, there was a well with very clear water. He also remembered finding "foundations" of buildings. These were the stone bases of old walls. He believed they were Roman.

Lethieullier mentioned these foundations were about 300 yards south of the mosaic. He also said that in 1746, workers showed him "urns." These were pots made of rough clay. They also found bones and at least three Roman coins. Lethieullier thought these were from Roman burials.

Searching for the Villa Today

Over time, people lost track of the exact spots where these Roman remains were found. But archaeologists kept looking.

Modern Digs and Surveys

In the 1960s, an archaeologist named Jack Elsden Tuffs did more work. He tried to find the villa again.

More recently, in 2007, a special survey was done. It used ground-penetrating radar. This technology can see things buried underground. The survey found unusual spots that looked like buried walls. These walls seemed to belong to a large stone building. They were probably from the Roman period. It looked like there were at least two rooms visible.

Even though the main villa hasn't been fully found, these discoveries show that an important Roman site was once here.