A ROMAN VILLA. Ancient Ruins Found in England. AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY. Walls and Tesselated Pavements Unearthed Near Bristol.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 255, 14 April 1888, Page 3

A ROMAN VILLA. Ancient Ruins Found in England. AN INTERESTING DISCOVERY. Walls and Tesselated Pavements Unearthed Near Bristol.

Tjik intorest occasioned by the recent announcements in this paper of the discovery of some Roman remains at Tockington Court farm is steadily increasing* and as the carefully - conducted excavations proceed the opinion early expressed, that tho find was one of the most important of the kind yet made in the country, gives every evidence of actual verification. Tho farm is> situated jusb near enough to constitute a pleasant trip out of Bristol, ami visitois can not only depend upon a welcome horn the genial farmer, K. .Smith, but the interest he evinces in the operations and his long knowledge of tho farm, add materially to the enjoyment of the inspection of tho splendid villa romaii s which aie now being unearthed The manner in which the discovery was bi ought about is rather a peculiar one. Under the direction of George l'ullen, the le.-ident agent of the estate of which the farm form 1 - a part, a wall was being erected across the outer barton. The mason at the end of thf week came for his wages and putting his hand into his pocket, pulled out a number of little stone squaie-> ol bright and vai ied colour, and asked hi*- employer whether he had c\er been anything like that before. The small square*, — which, of course, weie bit-a of mosaic — were examined, and the man a.-ked whcie ho had got them. Jle then paid he had come aeio-s them in laying in the foundation of the wall, and that he met with them daily in the coulee of this woik. This led to a search being made, and the farmyaid in all diiections was found to be rich in Roman lemain*. Had the mason, however, repoited the first finding ot the little bits of coloured stone, one of the finest pieces ot Roman tes-elated pavements might ha\c been brought to light intact. The wall goes right through the centre of this piece, which is about eighteen feet .square. The colour? aic beautifully distinct, and the geometrical patterns attest the skill ot the artists of that day. Looking at thcpa\ement, it is haid to belie\e that it has existed for at least fifteen hundred yeais. Tt is only a few inches below the soil ot the baiton, and the marvel is that, in the ordinary wear and tear of the baiton, it had not long since been brought to light. The mason's discovery wa*> in ' the winter ot 18S4. The matter was leported to the lord of the manor, the Re\ . Ciwule-* Pieirepont Peach, who is muu ot Appletonie stieet, Malfon, Yorkshne, and as the winter was setting in with some seventy, it was decided to rccoMM 1 the pavement, in older that the frost should in no way destioy tho colour.*.. Once rilled in, the matter .seemed to be foigotten or unheeded, until about- six weeks since, when Farmer Smith, cutting a drain ados*, the jnul, exilic upon come other remain"?. This being in a part of the premises where no one suspected that anything oT the kind existed, attention was once more directed to the matter, and the half-forgotten fact of the pavement was renumbered. Mr Smith and the agent, Mr Pullen, jointly WTote to Yorkshire informing the owner of the property of the new discovery, and inquiiing whether he would like the place to be thoroughly searched over. The | owner's reply was that personally he cared nothing about it, bub he had no objection to the w liter's doing so if the same couid be done without any injury to the property. With this permission Messrs Smith and Pullen commenced opeiations, and were le waided b} rinding evidences that the ground immediately around the farmhouse had been the site cf a Roman villa of conMcleiablo dimensions. Bits of tesselated pavement were found heie and theie, together with othci remains, including tiles and bits of broken pottery. The news ot the dieco\ciy soon spread through the neighbourhood, and amongst one of the eaihest \ i»itors was Miss Crossman of Thombury. Fiom what that lady saw she was corrunced that, the work of excavation would be attended with important lesults, and *-he promptly communicated with Sir John Maclean, Richmond Hill, Clifton, a well-known member of the Biistol and (Uouecs-tei shire Archaeological So(iet;,. A visit from this expeit continued the \ iew that it was desirable to proceed with the work. Some thirty-eight years au;o Roman remains were disco's ercd in one pititieular spot near the stable. The discovery was brought about through the rain lolling out bits ot mosaic. The ground Mil? opened and a \ery nice piece of tesselatcd pavement was brought to light. The then occupier of tho farm — a Mr Harding kept the pavement open to the \iew of the publn foi a couple of months, and the place w.c- \ i*-ited by large numbers of person 1 - fioin Riistol. In consequence, however, ol tho mutilation of the design h) the cauyiuii away of small pieces of the stone, the pavement was covered up and lC'.n.uned undistuibed until 1867, when it was ie opened at the instance of Major Peach, tho then lord of the manor. V\ om th.it period up to the time ot the budding ot the wall across a por tion of the Ivuton nothing further was done in tho matter. The further discovery by Mr Smith, when cutting the dam about two months or so since, was instrumental, and in a \ory curious way in leading up to the lindmg ot a splendid piece of pavement on fir c.i*>t side of the farm. It was bioutiht. about in this way : Mr Smith advertised in the "Times and Mirror "' that the Roman icmains would be on view to the public. A day or two after he received a Ictrci in a lad>'o hand, dated irom W ess ton - super-Mare, on the matter. The writer wa,s evidently well up in tho topography of the fanii, and infoimed Mr Smith that a piece of Roman pavement had been disco\cied upwards of lifty-five years ago at the rear ot the farmhouse in an easterly direction, and immediately adjoining the gianary. On this, Mr Smith set to work \eiy carefully and uncovered, at a depth of about four feet, a choice square of tesselated work 14 \lO feet. The feature of this find i- the beauty of the centre-piece, and the boidering on three sides is toleiably perfect. Following tho straight line of the ancient wall, it was found to end with a well-like structure, and what looks like an arched conduit, leading right under the Roman floor. This is thought to be the hypocaust, but this has not yet been definitely accepted. Just about this point a finely-preserved coin of the reign of Chlorus was found. A brass coin was also picked up near, having on the opposite side the following : " Harms. Kravwinckel. In. Ny. 1 ' And on the reverse side: "Gottes Gabon. Sol. Man. Lob." Tho reading of this is said to bo: "God's gift should be man's pleasure." Sir John Maclean state* that this coin is a medieval

one and by no means uncommon. species of broken pottery and -ware, sonj of the latter having a highly-blazed aui face, were also found here. This is noj however, regarded as Roman pottery, tftr in particular the clay pipe bowl and 3tes are recognised as belonging to tfi Elizabethan period. In the back yard?i Co be sseen a piece of rounded stonl which latter might bo a poition of ill base or the capital of a column, togethi with a number of large red tiles. Tfi longest length of the foundations in a straight line as yet discovered exceed 230 feet, so some idea can be obtained $ the extent of these very important remains. The piece of pavement in the barton through which the wall already] spoken of runs is eighteen feet squared The design here, and elsewhere on the^ farm where fancy coloured work has been t found, i.s geometrical. No human figure representations similar to those discovered at the Roman villa at Bradiijg, Isle of. Wight, have as yet been found JNear this' piece of pavement aie placed portions of . a stone hand-mill, and two or three larger tablets of scone, carved on three sides. The| latter was found on the north side of the ] yard> leading into the rick barton, and pro- 1 bably might form poitions of the ornamen» tal work of an open court yard. Within a few feet of the decorative pavement of the barton the outer wall of the villa is distinctly traceable, and is the highest piece/ of wall work yet found, and in itsell is a splendid sample of wall building. The best of the large pieces of tesselated pavement are carefully coveied with canvas, and other precautions are also taken by Mr Smith to avoid anything like damage being done. The largest piece of mosaic pavement is that leading from the outer barton to the lick barton. Here it is at least fifty, feet, without a break, by ten feet. There arc only two or three colours used in this, and the design is what is termed the Philpott or double-key pattern, a very old form of ornamentation. This is supposed to have • been the outer coiridor of the villa, and it a\ a>sa >5 near here that the ornamental slabs of stone were found. .Sir John Maclean wa-* at the faim, and he expiesscd a warm dc-iie that the exploration shall be continued. Up to now five large and distinct pieces of pavement have been uncovered, two of which arc remarkable for their general preservation and beauty of design and colour. Several apartments and passages are now laid bare and open to view. The farmhouse itself, it is thought, is also built on a portion of the villa, and this surmise is> strengthened from the fact that the granary at the back is undoubtedly built upon the old Roman Avails of the once - existing building. Whatever may be the ultimate decision as to the progress of the work, much more cannot be done this season. The weather will soon be such that the cattle will have to be brought in from the fields, and before this is done Mr Smith will cover up the remains until the spring of next year. Some few weeks now remain during which the public will have the opportunity of going over this beautiful archaeological discovery. The place is, indeed, well worth a visit, and the fact that these highly-interesting remains have been found so near the surface, and their extent nottoha\e been discovered until now, is scarcely understandable. Rich as the farm now turns out to be in Roman remains, it appears that traces have been discovered from time to time, and Bariett, the local historian, mentions their existence at Tockington Court farm about a hundred years since, and remarks that at the time the di«covery attracted bub little attention. Messrs Smith and Pullen deserve the best thanks of all who desire to see the preservation of relics which mark the ancienb history of the land, and doubtless in the course of the next few weeks there will be large numbers of visitors at the farm. The " Builder " adds the following factsj: — The articles found in the excavation have not been of very gieat interest, nor have they been very numerous. A few fragments of pottery only have been met with, of varying colours, including two or three small pieces of Samian wire, a single third brass coin of Carausius, an iron strigil, while a few small ovster-sheils prove that the Romans of this part of the country had the same taste for the succulent bivalve as their brethren elsewhere. Many split bones have also been found, showing that they had been broken for the extraction of marrow. Some features, indicative of the structure of the building, were met with, and fiom these we learn that it was, for the most pai t, roofed with split Pennant stone slabs, two feet long, 13 inches wide and one inch thick, both ends of the slabs being cut diamondw ise. There were a few fragments of llat-fanged roofing tiles, and also of the circular tiles to cover over the ilanges, but since these were not veiy numerous, it may be supposed that stone was the principal covering. The slabs were perforated foi one laige nail each. These were of iron, as was suiliciently proved by a portion of one of the nails still remaining. Se\ eral pieces of hypocaust tiles were met with to convey the hot-air to various parts of the building, having patterns scored upon them. The patterns were not, howc\er, intended as decoration, but only as a key for plastering. This was attested by the fact that their impression was actually found on the back of pome of the fragments of coloured plaster found in the room 5 . The base of a circular column was disco\ered in one of the apartments near the principal pavement, the shaft, eight inches in diameter, being bioken. It> is very neatly and truly worked, very similar to an attic base, comiuencing with a square plinth. Examination shows that it has not been worked by hand, but turned in a lathe. The most remarkable discovery remains to be noticed. It is a stone table slab two feet eleven inches long by one foot three inches broad and three and a quarter inches thick. Tho under side is slightly dished, and the upper side shows that a back of some sort rested upon it. Three of the edges are chamfered, square stops being left in the centic of the front, at the angles and at the ends. The chamfer is filled in Avith a sunk ornament, precisely like the star pattern so often found in the Early Norman churches, slightly varied to the front. There is a neatly worked cable moulding at tho top edge of the chamfer, and the fillet beneath it is ornamented by a series of small sunk squares. A pattern, varied in each case, is also worked on the faces of the blocks left as stops to the chamfer. It was discoA r crcd a year ago in digging a drain in the stackyard, not very far "to the southeast of the end of the excaAation of the round corridor. When found it Avas standing on four rough stone supports, and it Avas broken in removal. It is difficult to assign a use to this object, which appears to have stood, as described, in the open air. It is possible that it Avas placed as a table to support some statues of domestic or local deities, in front of an altar. Diligent search should certainly be made for the missing supports. The course of the excavations reA'ealed evidences with respect to the fate of the building, al least to a considerable extent. Traces of conflagration were found in more than one spot. Not Only waß there a deposit of burned wood, but soveral of tho stones bear traces of fire. — " Bristol Times and Mirror,"