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.
Despite partial excavation of this site in 1948 and 1962 during which mosaic
pavements were removed, significant structural remains of this villa survive.
The excavations here confirmed that the villa was built in a landscape which
was already well used for agriculture and other purposes, and where settlement
from the Iron Age Parisi tribe was already established. Further information on
the changing use of landscape and of settlement in this area will be
preserved.
Details
The monument includes the remains of a Romano-British villa situated in fields
to the north of gravel quarries at Cockle Pits.
The site of the villa was first discovered in 1941, when two mosaics were
discovered during works at Cockle Pits stone quarry. These were later removed
to Hull Museum in 1948, and one has since disappeared.
In 1962, excavations took place following the discovery of the remains of
another mosaic pavement 70m to the north of the quarry in 1961. These
excavations yielded the remains of a villa including a very large room with a
tessellated floor measuring 11.13m by 7.77m, a corridor and the remains of
four other rooms, three of which had tessellated floors.
Adjoining field systems, enclosures and ditches, visible from the air as
distinctive marks in agricultural crops to the west of the villa, were
excavated in 1983, revealing Iron Age ditched enclosures overlain by the
remains of three rectangular buildings dating to the second and the fourth
centuries AD, culminating in the existing villa.
The Brantingham Iron Age settlement of the Parisi tribe was situated on the
crest of a limestone ridge overlooking the valley of the Humber and the
Vale of York, probably an important routeway throughout the prehistoric
period. The arrival of the Romans here resulted in the construction of the
main Lincoln to York Roman road which was next to the native settlement here.
The Late Iron Age defended settlement described above ultimately developed
into the large country house, or villa, as found during the course of the
excavations here.
All modern fencing is excluded from the scheduling, although the ground
beneath is included.
MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.
It includes a 2 metre boundary around the archaeological features,
considered to be essential for the monument's support and preservation.
