| Summary : Possible site of a Roman villa. The walls and foundations of a hypocaust plus other buildings and a tesselated pavement were found at Rudge in 1725. The pavement featured a human figure in the design. A bronze enamelled bowl, known as the Rudge Cup, was found in a well nearby, as were animal boins, Roman coins and four or five human skeletons. The cup bears a list of place names associated with Hadrian's Wall and is now in Alnwick Castle Museum, Northumberland. In circa 1875, during ploughing a stone statuette was found. Representing Atys, it is now in the British Museum. Tesserae were found on the edge of Rudge Coppice in 1939-45 during the building of some nissen huts. The site of the suggested villa was relocated in 1976. |
More information : The walls and foundations of a hypocaust and other
buildings and a tesselated pavement (1) 17ft by 15ft with a
design of a human figure in the centre (2) were found in 1725
at Rudge (1). A bronze enamelled bowl, known as the Rudge Cup
was found in a well not far from the pavement. The well also
contained animal bones, four or five human skeletons and Ro
coins (6). In about 1875, while ploughing over the site, a
Roman stone statuette was found. This, a half figure of Attis
or Atys, shepherd priest of Cybele, Phrygian "Mother Goddess"
is now in the British Museum (4). The Rudge Cup bears a list of
place names associated with Hadrian's Wall and is considered by
Cowen (5) to be of British manufacture c AD 150. It is now in
Alnwick Castle Museum, Northumberland (2). The site was
probably on the edge of Rudge Coppice where some tesserae were
found when building Nissen huts between 1939-45 (3). (1-6)
Rudge Coppice at SU 279696 is under thick vegetation with
wartime concrete floors but no evidence of any Roman debris.
The area to the E, centred at SU 28236954 is regularly ploughed
but the farmer (a) reports surface finds limited to wartime
material. Rudge Coppice is not named on the Tithe Map, being
simply part of "Lawn Wood", and there are no significant local
field names, save perhaps "Castle Ground", a field of some 30
hectares 100.0m to the W, and this seems devoid of Roman
debris. (7)
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