Reasons for Designation
Romano-British villas were extensive rural estates at the focus of which were
groups of domestic, agricultural and occasionally industrial buildings. The
term "villa" is now commonly used to describe either the estate or the
buildings themselves. The buildings usually include a well-appointed dwelling
house, the design of which varies considerably according to the needs, taste
and prosperity of the occupier. Most of the houses were partly or wholly
stone-built, many with a timber-framed superstructure on masonry footings.
Roofs were generally tiled and the house could feature tiled or mosaic floors,
underfloor heating, wall plaster, glazed windows and cellars. Many had
integral or separate suites of heated baths. The house was usually accompanied
by a range of buildings providing accommodation for farm labourers, workshops
and storage for agricultural produce. These were arranged around or alongside
a courtyard and were surrounded by a complex of paddocks, pens, yards and
features such as vegetable plots, granaries, threshing floors, wells and
hearths, all approached by tracks leading from the surrounding fields. Villa
buildings were constructed throughout the period of Roman occupation, from the
first to the fourth centuries AD. They are usually complex structures occupied
over several hundred years and continually remodelled to fit changing
circumstances. They could serve a wide variety of uses alongside agricultural
activities, including administrative, recreational and craft functions, and
this is reflected in the considerable diversity in their plan. The least
elaborate villas served as simple farmhouses whilst, for the most complex, the
term "palace" is not inappropriate. Villa owners tended to be drawn from a
limited elite section of Romano-British society. Although some villas belonged
to immigrant Roman officials or entrepreneurs, the majority seem to have been
in the hands of wealthy natives with a more-or-less Romanised lifestyle, and
some were built directly on the sites of Iron Age farmsteads. Roman villa
buildings are widespread, with between 400 and 1000 examples recorded
nationally. The majority of these are classified as `minor' villas to
distinguish them from `major' villas. The latter were a very small group of
extremely substantial and opulent villas built by the very wealthiest members
of Romano-British society. Minor villas are found throughout lowland Britain
and occasionally beyond. Roman villas provide a valuable index of the rate,
extent and degree to which native British society became Romanised, as well as
indicating the sources of inspiration behind changes of taste and custom. In
addition, they serve to illustrate the agrarian and economic history of the
Roman province, allowing comparisons over wide areas both within and beyond
Britain. As a very diverse and often long-lived type of monument, a
significant proportion of the known population are identified as nationally
important.
The Romano-British villa in Cobham Park survives well in buried form and has
been shown by partial excavation to contain archaeological remains and
environmental evidence relating to the monument, the economy of its
inhabitants and the landscape in which they lived.
The reservoir is a relatively unusual feature relating to the 19th century
landscaping of Cobham Park.
Details
The monument includes a minor Romano-British villa and a 19th century
reservoir situated on the western side of a low ridge of the Kent Downs. The
villa, which survives in buried form, lies around 275m to the south of Watling
Street, the main Roman road between London (Londinium), Canterbury
(Dubrovernum) and Dover (Dubris).
Partial excavation in 1959-1960 revealed that the villa complex was in use
from the mid first century to the fourth century AD, and underwent at least
two main phases of development. To the south east is the main, domestic range,
one of the earliest parts of the villa, which is a north west-south east
aligned, rectangular building containing at least five rooms and measuring
38.7m by 9.75m. This has flint and iron sandstone footings, and may have had a
timber superstructure, although this no longer survives. At least three
further rooms were added to the north western end of the building at a later
date, along with a flanking corridor to the north east. The south eastern end
of the range was partially damaged by the construction of a later park
boundary ditch, but traces of a furnace room, originally forming part of a
hypocaust, or underfloor heating system, found to the south east of the ditch,
indicate the presence of an attached bath house. The excavation also revealed
fragments of painted wall plaster, window glass and sherds of Roman pottery.
Around 14m to the north west is a smaller building which shares the alignment
of the main range. This is also rectangular, measuring 13.7m by 5.9m, with
trenched foundations laid with flint and chalk, bound together with clay. The
lower wall courses were found to survive in situ in places, and are
constructed of a mortared flint and pebble core faced with iron sandstone.
Traces of tessellated floors were also found, along with quantities of
fragmented roof tiles. Pottery sherds indicate that the building was in use
during the second and third centuries AD.
The excavations also revealed a timber-lined well dating to the Roman period,
situated around 29m to the north west of the smaller building. The well is
c.2.2m deep and was found to have been used subsequently as a rubbish dump.
A further scatter of Roman brick and tile noted in 1964 during deep ploughing
c.150m to the north of the main range is interpreted as evidence for further,
as yet unidentified, buried structures which originally formed part of the
wider villa estate. A hoard of Roman coins was discovered 120m south west of
the main range in 1883.
Around 70m south of the main range is an oval mound measuring c.16m by 11m
which houses a brick lined, underground reservoir. This feature was part of a
19th century water management system designed to culvert spring water from the
hillside down to the grounds of Cobham Hall c.300m to the south.
The monument lies within Cobham Park, which is included in the national
register of historic parks and gardens.
The modern fences which cross the monument are excluded from the scheduling,
although the ground beneath these is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
