| Summary : The site of Brading Roman villa. Excavations between 1881 and 1900 uncovered a villa of winged corridor type, consisting of three blocks, occupied between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD. The central block contained the living quarters and was probably of two storeys, with four ground floor rooms containing elaborate mosaics. Finds of painted wall plaster and window glass indicate the high status nature of the site. This block apparently ceased to be used as a dwelling some time before the late 4th century AD, when corn-drying ovens were inserted into the corridor. The northern wing contained a well chamber and a hypocaust heating system, and measured 42 metres long by 15 metres wide. The southern wing originally measured 46 metres long by 10 metres wide but the site has been much disturbed by ploughing. A paved yard flanked the wing and a separate bath house stood at its eastern end. Aerial photographic and geophysical surveys carried out in 1994 and 1995 provided evidence of an extensive series of field boundaries around the villa, which are believed to be contemporary with it. |
More information : (SZ59958627) Roman Villa (G.S.) Hypocaust (G.S.)
Subway (GS) (1)
Excavated by Capt Thorp and Mr Munn from 1880 onwards. Three sets of buildings grouped round a courtyard were found with a number of mosaic pavements and finds illustrative of a wealthy and substantial household of the 3rd to 4th. c. (3) skull and skeletal remains were discovered in Rooms II and IV and a well also contained human remains. The two 'subways' were probably T-shaped corn-drying ovens. (2-4)
The villa is the property of Brig-General C.F.Aspinall-Oglander, and those parts preserved are open to the public. The central block - of winged-corridor type, the living quarters are preserved under a substantial building. Glass cases following the line of the original internal walls - contain a rich assortment of material from the villa. Mosaics are well preserved though one or two floors are now modern cement. In the north, basilican-block, only the western hypocaust and east well chamber are somewhat imperfectly preserved - the well open to presumably its excavated depth and steined in modern brick at its top. The remainder of the structure is now grassed over. The subway is not readily visible but the structure visible under the corridor of the central block coupled with this, as 'probable corn-drying ovens' appear to have been heating ducts fortuitously T-shaped. Of the south block nothing is visible save some fragments of its eastern end much overgrown by bushes. (5)
Listed as RB aisled house. (6)
Description of 12.3.55 still correct except that no trace of any part of the southern block is now visible. Published 1/2500 survey revised. (7)
The Roman Villa
Remains of a Roman Villa of the C.3, including tessellated pavements and hypocaust, discovered and excavated in 1880. Ancient Monument. Grade I. (8)
Henig suggests that the villa owner was a man of strong theosophical interests to which the term Gnostic might be applied, on the evidence of the mosaic. (9)
Contrary to authority (5), the T-shaped `heating ducts' are now proven to be corn-driers. (10)
Original excavation reports. (11-12)
In discussing brickmaking signatures, Soffe notes that a sesquipedalis from the well of Brading is marked with a hand-point over a combed pattern, a feature that is noted from Portchester. (13)
Discussion of the mosaics; it is suggested that they have no mystic inferences but are what one would expect to find in a Roman villa. (14)
The Roman Villa Description of the mosaics:-
Room 1 A mosaic of Orpheus with animals and birds.
Room 2 A unique mosaic including the chicken headed Gnostic god Abraxes, a central roundel of Bacchus, the god of wine and gladiators in combat.
Room 11 A simple diamond-shaped pattern with a border of red and white tesserae.
Room 12 A very elaborate mosaic divided into panels by a braided quilloche. It is one of the most important floor mosaics in Britain and it shows Perseus rescuing Andromeda, busts of the four seasons, the head of Medeusa, Ceres distributing ears of corn to Triptolemus, a satyr pursuing a Bacchante, Lycurgus attacking the Maenad Ambrosia with a double axe and a maenad playing a tambourine dancing with a shepherd boy. Rectangular border panel with merman, sea centaurs and nereids. Grade 1. (15)
IW 3 Listed as the site of a Roman villa. (16)
The site of a Roman villa. Excavations between 1881 and 1900 uncovered a villa of winged corridor type, consisting of three blocks, occupied between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD. The central block contained the living quarters and was probably of 2 storeys, with four ground floor rooms containing elaborate mosaics. Finds of painted wall plaster and window glass indicate the high status nature of the site. This block apparently ceased to be used as a dwelling some time before the late 4th century, when corn-drying ovens were inserted into the corridor. The northern wing contained a well chamber and a hypocaust heating system, and measured 42 metres long by 15 metres wide. The southern wing originally measured 46 metres long by 10 metres wide but the site has been much disturbed by ploughing. A paved yard flanked the wing and a separate bath house stood at its eastern end. Aerial photographic and geophysical surveys carried out in 1994 and 1995 provided evidence of an extensive series of field boundaries around the villa, believed to be contemporary with it. For more information please refer to the scheduled record. (17)
The Brading Roman Villa website contains detailed information on the site, the villa's history and the various events that take place including the Big Dig. There is also a virtual tour of the site. (18) |