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Summary

Roman villa site, to the north of Kirmond le Mire.

Full description

A large Roman villa consisting of several separate buildings, some of which certainly contain mosaics, in situ and undisturbed. The main villa building appears to be to the south-west, with a range of outbuildings along the low lying valley bottom to the north-east. One mosaic, partially uncovered in September 1975 contained mainly geometric motifs and lay in a room or corridor 24ft by 9ft. A scatter of finds from the site is mainly of late Roman date. The field has been under plough for four years and ploughing has probably not eroded much of the top surface. The undamaged mosaic lay under 6" depth of plough soil. The owner has agreed to preserve the site in situ in future under pasture, and the site is now a scheduled ancient monument. {1}{2}

Sherds of Roman pottery of a dark grey fabric had previously been found in this area in 1963, after an earlier ploughing of the site. {3}

The villa at Kirmond le Mire was discovered by Daniel Davidson, a resident of Louth, who conducted excavations at the site after finding scatters of Roman pottery in this area from 1973. The pottery was collected from the field surface after the site had been ploughed, and was largely comprised of sherds of grey ware pottery and other local ware types, although fragments of samian were also recovered, along with pieces of tile and loose tesserae. Excavations continued, with Mr Davidson clearing away approximately 20cm of the topsoil to reveal a substantially complete mosaic floor, of which roughly 8 square metres was eventually exposed. Staff from the City and County Museum at Lincoln were at this point called in to examine and photograph the mosaic, and to begin the process of scheduling the site. Field walking of the site noted a number of ridges and hollows in the area of the exposed mosaic, suggesting that a number of further buried rooms and walls survived. Sketch plans of the site were drawn up, and it was thought likely that the villa was of a corridor type with a number of projecting wings. The mosaic seems to have formed the floor of a small room or corridor, and had a pattern consisting largely of geometric designs, but with a number of very finely realised depictions of blackbirds in the corners of two of the central panels. Neal and Cosh believe the mosaic possibly dates to the early 4th century, based on its stylistic appearance and comparisons with other similar examples. {4}{5}{6}{7}

Cropmarks of a number of linear boundaries were identified in the area of the villa site, on aerial photographs examined as part of the National Mapping Programme. The features were thought to have largely formed part of a later medieval field system overlying the villa site (see PRN 51527), although some may conceivably be earlier in origin. {8}{9}

<1> HBMC, 1975, AM 7, SAM 300 (Scheduling Record). SLI4121.

<2> HBMC, 1987, AM 107, SAM 300 (Scheduling Record). SLI4045.

<3> Lincolnshire County Council, Sites and Monuments Record Card Index, TF 19 SE: A (Index). SLI2881.

<4> Lincolnshire County Council, Sites and Monuments Record Card Index, TF 19 SE: Z (Index). SLI2881.

<5> Lincolnshire County Council, Sites and Monuments Record Card Index, TF 19 SE: V (Index). SLI2881.

<6> A.J. White (ed.), 1976, 'Archaeology in Lincolnshire and South Humberside, 1975' in Lincolnshire History and Archaeology, vol.11, pp.62-3 (Article in Serial). SLI757.

<7> Neal, D.S. and Cosh, S.R., 2002, Roman Mosaics of Britain, pp.160-2 (Bibliographic Reference). SLI10932.

<8> BRITISH GAS, 1985, BRITISH GAS APS, 1799/1800 (Aerial Photograph). SLI172.

<9> Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England, 1992-1996, National Mapping Programme, TF1893: LI269.8.1 (Map). SLI3613.

Monument Types

• ARTEFACT SCATTER (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• FARMSTEAD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• VILLA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• MOSAIC (Roman - 300 AD? to 409 AD?)

Associated Finds

• SHERD (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Events

• Excavation of Mosaic at Kirmond le Mire Roman Villa Site

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument

Sources and further reading

Search results generated by the HBSMR Gateway from exeGesIS SDM Ltd.