Romano-British villa, Banwell

List Entry Summary

This monument is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended as it appears to the Secretary of State to be of national importance. This entry is a copy, the original is held by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

Location

The monument may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

Legacy System Information

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Asset Groupings

This list entry does not comprise part of an Asset Grouping. Asset Groupings are not part of the official record but are added later for information.

List entry Description

Summary of Monument

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Reasons for Designation

Villas were an important component of the Romano-British rural landscape and represent the most Romanised form of farmstead. The presence of waterlogging is unusual and provides conditions for the survival of organic remains (eg wood, plants, seeds); such remains provide information not available from dry sites on the functions and use of the villa and on the rural economy. It would appear from the earthworks visible in the field that much of the original villa site survives, including the main villa building.

History

Legacy Record - This information may be included in the List Entry Details.

Details

The monument comprise the site of a Romano-British villa located in a field immediately north-east of the modern village of Banwell. The villa is visible in the form of a group of well defined and well preserved building platforms. The monument was discovered in 1968 during pipe-laying operations and preliminary investigations were made. The area partially excavated comprised a bath-house, adjacent courtyard and a length of wall. An almost complete plan of the bath-house is available from excavation. The main mosaic and apse were recovered as was the hot room floor, raised on two rows of pilae through which heat from the furnace passed. The bath-house was situated close to the River Banwell and in the 3rd to 4th centuries was connected to the main building by a paved room or corridor. Pottery and animal bones scattered in and around the main building suggest that the bath-house ceased to function sometime during the 4th century. This part of the villa is now waterlogged and the floors subsided.

MAP EXTRACT The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Selected Sources

Books and journals
Hunt, J, 'J Axbridge Caving Group Archaeol Soc' in Roman Villa at Banwell, , Vol. 3, (1967), 26
Tomalin, D J, 'Archaeol. Review' in Archaeol. Review, , Vol. 2, (1968), 16
Other
Typescript, Rye, G P, (Typescript),

National Grid Reference: ST 39822 59315

Map

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This copy shows the entry on 18-Jul-2018 at 01:58:25.