You are in [Places] [Great Estates] [Littlecote House] [Littlecote Roman Villa - 1. Introduction]
** Click here for the Audio Guide around the villa ** |
1. Introduction
The seven sections about the villa:
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 1. Introduction.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 2. The history of the villa, AD 60 - 1700.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 3. The Discovery of the mosaic, 1727.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 4. The Rediscovery and restoration of the villa, 1976-1991.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 5. The Conservation Plan, 2019-2024.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 6. Exploring and Understanding the villa today.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 7. The artefacts found during the excavations.
Introduction:
In a corner of rolling farmland on the banks of the River Kennet near the Wiltshire/ Berkshire border in the grounds of Littlecote House Hotel, lie the remains of one of the few Roman villas in Britain open to the public.
The Roman word 'villa' originally meant a farm and its outbuidings. Today it is often used to describe all types of Roman houses built in the countryside, from small farms to vast country mansions. Some villas wer large and wealthy, furnished with mosaicss, wall paintings, hypocaust heating and bath suites. Littlecote is one of these. We know of about 1000 villas across Britain. This is no doubt only a fraction of the actual number that once existed.
Shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43 in what is now Richborough, Kent (and/or possibly Chichester - experts are unsure), roads were built west and north. One such military road was built running west through what is now Littlecote Park. A small military presence guarded the nearby river crossing. In c.AD 60 a British roundhouse was built here, enlarged c.AD 120 a combined bakery and brewery was built. Like the roundhouse, the brewery and bakery structure was built of timber.
Around AD 170 the first stone building was erected, and over the two centuries more changes were made, as this essentially farm complex grew.
The final and most interesting phase of construction came around AD 360 when the earlier buildings were largely demolished, and the site changed from being a large farm to become a ceremonial complex (or 'Collegium' - a sort of educational monastery) dedicated to the cult of Orpheus and Bacchus, a cult which went back to ancient Greece.
By this time, the villa had become large, covering more than one hectare, among the largest in Britain. The courtyard measures 105 x 70m; the villa measures 120 x 100m.
It had around 60 rooms, two bathhouses, many mosaic floors and several heated hypocausts.
Most notably, it had a magnificent mosaic in a special hall dedicated to the ancient Greek legendary hero Orpheus.
The Roman remains were later abandoned and became buried beneath part of an extensive medieval village, which was itself dismantled in the 15th century, when the original Littlecote House was built, to make way for a hunting park. In the 17th century a hunting-lodge was built immediately adjacent to the buried mosaic.
The gradual development and changes at the villa over about 350 years from its origins c.AD 60 until its abandonment in the early fifth century AD offer an intriguing insight into life in this part of southern Britain, notably life in wealthy Romano-British circles in the mid-4th century.
Artist Trevor Caley's impression of the riverside building c.AD 360-365
The earliest reference to a Roman site at Littlecote was in 1727 when William George, estate steward to Francis Popham (then owner of Littlecote), first uncovered the Orpheus mosaic. It was described as "the finest pavement that the sun ever shone upon in England". An engraving and a drawing were made, from which a needlework replica was created.
After its discovery and recording, the mosaic and the villa were reburied, and declared lost.
In 1976 the villa was rediscovered, and in April 1978 the owner Sir Seton Wills founded a long term research project, led by Bryn Walters.
See "Lifting the Littlecote Mosaic", Country Life, 14 Sep 1978.
Peter de Savary continued his support of the excavations until they were completed in 1991.
The villa is large, and complex. The Orphic building is thought to date from c AD 360-365.
Why is the Littlecote Roman Villa so special?
• It is the largest exposed Roman villa in Britain
• It is one of the best-preserved Roman villas above ground in Britain
• It had the largest gatehouse of any Roman villa in Britain
• It had the earliest triconch (triple apse) hall in the Roman world
• It has the finest Orpheus mosaic on display in Britain – the fourth largest and arguably the finest Roman mosaic on display in Britain.
An aerial view of the restored villa, 1991
To read more, see - Littlecote Roman Villa - 2. The history of the villa, AD 60 - 1700.
See also:
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 1. Introduction.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 2. The history of the villa, AD 60 - 1700.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 3. The Discovery of the mosaic, 1727.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 4. The Rediscovery and restoration of the villa, 1976-1991.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 5. The Conservation Plan, 2019-2024.
- Littlecote Roman Villa - 6. Exploring and Understanding the villa today.
- Archaeological Excavations in Littlecote Park Wiltshire, 1978 - First Interim Report
- Archaeological Excavations in Littlecote Park Wiltshire, 1979 & 80 - Second Interim Report
- Archaeological Excavations in Littlecote Park Wiltshire, 1981 & 82 - Third Interim Report and Guide
- Littlecote Roman Villa - Illustrated Guide
- "Littlecote", Current Archaeology December 1981
- "Orpheus and the Gentleman Farmer" - a BBC "Chronicle" episode, 1981.
Other interpretations of the site:
The interpretation of this important Roman Villa described in these sections of the Virtual Museum are firmly based on the expert opinion of the archaeologists Bernard Phillips and Bryn Walters.
However, it is important to point out that not all experts agree with the central premise of the villa becoming a temenos of the Orphic cult around 360AD.
You can read a MA dissertation written by Paris Quewezance Howe (Edinburgh University, 2023) which gives a different view.
References and further reading:
• HOSTETTER E. and HOWE T.N. 1997. The Romano-British Villa at Castle Copse, Great Bedwyn.
• KRAUTHEIMER, R. 1965. Early Christian Churches and Byzantine Architecture, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books
• LAVIN, I. 1962. ‘The House of the Lord’. Aspects of the role of palace triclinia in the architecture of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, Art Quarterly 44, 1-27
• PHILLIPS, B. and WALTERS, B:
o Archaeological Excavations in Littlecote Park Wiltshire 1978, First Interim Report
o Archaeological Excavations in Littlecote Park Wiltshire 1979 & 80, Second Interim Report
o Archaeological Excavations in Littlecote Park Wiltshire 1981 & 82, Third Interim Report and Guide
o Archaeological Excavations in Littlecote Park Wiltshire 1983 & 84, Site Guide and Fourth Interim Report
• WALTERS, B. 1984. The ‘Orpheus’ mosaic in Littlecote Park, England. III Colloquio Internazionale sul Mosaic Antico. Ravenna 6-10 Settembre 1980, Bologna
• WALTERS, B. 1994. Littlecote Roman Villa. Illustrated Guide, Swindon: Roman Research Marketing
Painting by Clive Constable (of the Ermine Street Guard).
Possibly painted for advertising in 1980, but never used. Found by Bryn Walters in his sister's house 2022.
See also:
- Cunetio Roman Town, Report of archaeology project by Wessex Archaeology, July 2011.
- Roman Britain website (no mention of Littlecote!).
The Canal Wharf, 2011