More information : TF 166845. Roman villa revealed by ploughing; flue
and hypocaust tiles, tesserae, wall plaster, pottery(1).
Floor, opus signinum, roof tiles, 3rd century coin (at TM 16518445).
Large area of tesserae, refuse pits with pottery, animal bones,
oyster shells (at TM 16608452) (2). Small excavation approximately
1200 yards NE of Moor Farm, at TM 16488442, produced Roman painted
plaster, 3rd century colour coated and grey ware, animal and human
bones about 18 inches deep under disturbed floor tiles. Human
bones possibly medieval (3). (1-3)
(TM 16518445) Roman Building (R) (site of) (NAT). (4)
The site is at present under corn stubble and grass and nothing
could be seen on the surface. It is known to local farm workers
but there has been no further investigation since 1964. (5)
There is good circumstantial evidence for a Roman villa in the area. The Heritage Environment Record states that from the end of the 19th century, numerous Roman objects have been recovered including large numbers of pottery sherds, coins, personal adornments and toilet articles. Unprovenanced excavations in the 1950s are said to have revealed evidence of a hypocaust and mosaic surface. Further excavations in the 1960s, also unprovenanced, produced wallplaster and pottery. Further Roman fnds were also made in 1992 during field walking in advance of the excavation of a trench for a sewerage pipe. A number of finds from the Iron Age to the Middle Saxon period were retieved along with evidience of Roman or Early Saxon pits and ditches. Aerial photographic evidence from the area showed a partial linear cropmark in the supposed area of the villa, however this cropmark could represent the below ground remains of a former double- hedge-line. Until such time as archaeological intervention can establish the location of the villa the site is not recommended for scheduling. This decision could be reviewed should additional archeaological information establishing its location be forthcoming. (7)
The site of a Roman villa surviving as buried archaeological remains detected by geophysical survey, artefact scatters and mid-C20 archaeological investigation.
The Roman villa site at Tivetshall St Mary is not scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Survival: Only part of the complex has been clearly identified; the full extent of the site is unknown.
* Diversity: The diversity of building types and features on the site is uncertain compared with other scheduled Roman villas.
* Potential: Given the uncertain survival of the archaeological remains of the villa complex, the potential of the site to yield nationally important archaeological information cannot be quantified.
* Documentation: The site is poorly documented. The non-invasive archaeological survey has provided further interpretation of the remains, but the nature, date and survival of the archaeological features and deposits have yet to be established with a sufficient level of certainty for the site to be scheduled.
This site is located approximately three miles north of the Roman town at Scole, a Scheduled Ancient Monument (NF 403), which lies on the Roman road between Colchester (Camulodunum) and Caistor St Edmund (Venta Icenorum). The buried remains of the villa lie to the west and south of the site of a former farmhouse, depicted on the Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1884, still standing in 1973, but now demolished.
The Norfolk HER (Historic Environment Record) records that a number of finds have been made in the area of interest, dating from the Neolithic through to the early medieval period. The HER states that from the end of the C19, numerous Roman objects have been recovered including large numbers of pottery sherds, coins, personal adornments and toilet articles. Unprovenanced excavations in the 1950s are said to have revealed evidence of a hypocaust and mosaic surface. Further excavations in the 1960s, also unprovenanced, produced wall plaster and pottery. It is possible that some of these excavations were undertaken on the field to the west of Patten Lane and the artefacts deposited in Norwich Museum. It is known that at the north-east and north-west boundary of the site there were ancilliary farm outbuildings and that the pond, identified by some as a naturally fed spring at the north-east corner, was excavated as a farm sump in the mid to late C20. In 1992, Roman deposits and finds were also made during fieldwalking and metal detecting in advance of, and observation during, the excavation of a trench for a sewerage pipe crossing two places on Patten Lane (HER 28841), one of which traverses the villa and was detected in the geophysical survey. A number of finds from the Iron Age to the Middle Saxon period were retrieved along with evidence of Roman or Early Saxon pits and ditches. It is said that artefacts have also been retrieved by metal detector users on the east side of Patten Lane.
Past Designation History:
An application for scheduling was received in May 2008, and an alternative action report was produced by the Designation Department in July of that year which explained that the villa could not be scheduled because its location was unclear. A copy of the geophysical survey report was supplied in August 2011, which contained significant new information about the location of the villa, leading to the reconsideration of the site's designation.
The buried remains of the villa lie immediately to the west of a minor Roman road, now represented by Patten Lane, to the west and south of the site of a former farmhouse, an area identified as being disturbed in the geophysical survey. The area of interest measures c.6.1 ha and is identified as Area 4 in the Stratascan Report of 2009. Archaeological remains detected beyond the area of interest are not included in this assessment. The land has a flat aspect and is currently under agricultural use. It has been suggested that ponds at the north-west and north-east of the area of interest mark the position of a naturally occurring spring which probably fed the villa complex, but this is not certain.
Circumstantial archaeological evidence for the villa comprises artefacts and undocumented archaeological excavation. Ploughing has revealed flue and hypocaust tiles, tesserae, opus signinum flooring and painted wall plaster, suggesting a dwelling of some status possibly with an associated bath house. Pottery and coins dating to the C3 suggest that the villa was in use until this time, but the earlier and later history of the complex is unknown. The geophysical survey detected a large concentration of discrete positive anomalies (readings indicative of archaeological features) in the western half of the field which probably represent the post holes of at least one linear building, probably an aisled barn, orientated approximately north to south, with solid linear boundaries on the same alignment further to the west. To the north-east, a double colonnade of large post holes of a former building were detected flanked by linear features which may represent walls. Although not tested by archaeological intervention, the detected anomolies are very likely to represent an aisled barn measuring in excess of 25m x10m. Solid linear boundaries to the west and north, beyond which little archaeological activity is discerned, are likely to represent the boundary of the complex; clusters of pits close to the boundaries indicate the survival of cut features. To the east and south, possible archaeological features which may represent robbed building foundations, masonry debris or ditches, suggest that structural deposits associated with the villa complex survive beneath the ground, but may have been affected by subsequent land use on the site.
Although the north and west boundaries of the villa complex are strongly suggested, the southern and eastern extent of this Roman site are unclear. Finds evidence suggests a continuation of the complex on the east side of Patten Lane, but there is no clear evidence of continuing Roman activity to the south. (8)
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