| Summary : Site of a Roman winged-corridor villa with a buttressed outbuilding discovered via air photography and surface finds. Roman material was ploughed up in 1971, and subsequent air photographs featured cropmarks representing an east-west orientated villa circa 52 metres. A nearby outbuilding 24.5 metres by 8.25 metres has buttresses. A possible boundary ditch is also visible. A sewerage trench dug through the site in 1975 revealed mortar and flint foundations and some opus signinum. The site, when visited by the Ordnance Survey in 1975, was marked by a dense scatter of building debris and other finds including imbrices, tegulae, tesserae, brick, plaster and potsherds. Earlier finds from the area include a fibula, coins of Constantine, Probus and Pertinax, and bronze figures of an eagle or hawk and of Hercules. |
More information : Roman building material ploughed up in 1971 and
subsequent air photographs led to the discovery of a
corridor-court-yard type villa (at TL 7312 5715: plotted from air
photograph (1) in relation to OS 6" 1903). It is orientated
east and west, about 51.8 metres long with wings projecting
10 metres. Nearby is an outbuilding, 24.5 metres by 8.25
metres, with buttresses. An apparent boundary ditch may be
traced to the north (1). Earlier finds from the area include a
fibula, coins of Constantine, Probus and Pertinax, bronze
figures of an eagle or hawk and of Hercules, all from Honeycomb
Field on Lodge Farm (2,3,4); also a figured samian bowl (5). (1-5)
The site of the Lidgate Ro villa lies on a gentle SW slope
under plough, and is marked by an area of dark soil and debris
on a slight lynchet (probably the old hedgerow shown on OS
25"). No indication of the building foundations seen by St
Joseph were found though the site is marked by a dense scatter
of building debris centred TL 7319 5709 which extends over an
area of 70.0m by 30.0m. Finds include fragments of imbrices,
tegulae, tesserae, Ro brick and plaster and Ro colour coated
ware. Scatter site surveyed at 1/2500.(6)
A sewerage trench was dug through the Roman Villa site at
Lidgate. Finds were mortar and flint footing, displaced
fragments of opus signinum but no stratified pottery. The finds
substantiated the footings of the villa revealed on air
photographs.(7)
Aerial photograph of the site published.(8) |