Roman villa 450m south of Warren's Farm

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.

Partial excavation has confirmed that remains of the Roman villa 450m south of Warren's Farm survives well beneath the ploughsoil. The majority of the site remains unexcavated and these deposits will contain information about the construction and layout of the villa and its associated buildings. Artefactual deposits, including evidence of industrial activity, and environmental deposits, which may survive at the base of the sequence, will also add to our understanding of the lifestyle and economy of the inhabitants and of the landscape in which they lived.

Details

The monument includes the remains of a Roman villa complex, situated on a gentle south facing slope on a gravel terrace running down to the Roman River to the south. The villa has no upstanding remains but survives as buried features below ground level. The site is located by a surface scatter of artefacts which is visible within the ploughsoil. The site was first noted in the early 1950s when deep ploughing of the site disturbed Roman mortar, painted wall plaster and roof tile. Two partial excavations have since taken place. The first was undertaken in 1956 by M J Campen and between 1966 and 1971 a second partial excavation took place during which further details of the plan of the villa building were recovered. The villa includes a substantial masonry building which was noted during partial excavation. This lies towards the northern edge of the monument. The building incorporates tessellated floors and a hypocaust heating system. To the south of this lies a yard area which is believed to have contained further ancillary timber buildings. In autumn 1993 a fieldwalking survey was undertaken which located a dense concentration of Roman tile covering an area of 145m (WNW-ESE) by 130m, which included the two partially excavated areas. The extent of the surface scatter coincides with a terraced platform in the gentle slope of the valley side which is believed to coincide with the extent of the villa complex itself. On its south west side it lies 2m-3m above the surrounding ground level and by c.1m on the north west.

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

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:

24878

Legacy System:

RSM

Sources

Books and journals
Blyth, J R D, Great Tey Villa, (1967)

Other
Fawn, J, (1993)
E C C, PRN 8709, (1988)

End of official list entry

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