| Summary : Roman villa excavated in 1959, with further work in the area in 1969-72. Four phases of occupation were recognised, beginning with a rectangular timber building of possible Antonine date, developing into a winged corridor villa with bath suite, the complex situated within a ditched enclosure. Quantities of slag suggest iron working was undertaken also. Two buildings associated with the villa complex, situated within possible remains of the ditched enclosure, are visible as cropmarks and have been mapped from aerial photographs. |
More information : [Area SU 8690 7985 (3) or SU 866 797 (4)] A large L-shaped
Roman Villa of C3rd/C4th date with traces of earlier occupation.
`One wing showed a bipartite residential villa plan of three phases,
the other, a baths wing of four constructional phases'. A small square outbuilding was also discovered, and the N.E. and S.W. sides of a boundary ditch. Excavated by Mrs. C. Bennett in 1959. (1-4)
Sited to SU 86877979 from APs in Reading Museum. The majority of finds are still being evaluated by the excavator, Mrs. Bennett, but a small selection are at the Windsor Guildhall Museum. (5)
The site is now occupied by a housing estate. (6)
[SU 8687 7979][Sited from plan] The Roman villa at Cox Green,
Maidenhead, doscovered by Dr. St. Joseph in one of his air-surveys,
was excavated in 1959 by Mrs. C. M. Bennett. The excavations revealed
four periods of construction - see plans Figs. 2 and 3 for details.
Period I: A simple rectangular buiding of suggested early Antonine
date, but dating evidence was rather scanty.
Period II: A bipartite winged corridor villa of late Antonine date.
Period III: Three rooms added and the bath-wing elaborated. Very
tentatively dated to the C3rd.
Period IV: The bath wing simplified posterior to c.354-58 AD. The
villa was surrounded on three sides by a saucer-shaped ditch, 2'6"
deep. A pebbled floor, which showed slight traces of a burnt timber
building [no date given] lay at the south-western end of the
south-east side of the ditch. Quantities of slag indicate
iron-working somewhere in the neighbourhood of the villa. (7)
A Roman ditch and wall with several sherds of Roman pottery were found in Northumbria Road. `It seems likely that they represent occupation associated with the Roman Villa'. (8)
Additional bibliography. (9-13)
Two buildings associated with the villa complex, situated within
possible remains of a ditched enclosure (probably the enclosure
trenched in 1959), are visible as cropmarks and have been mapped from
aerial photographs. The buildings seem to be the main villa building
centred at SU 8687 7989 and a possible small outbuilding, possibly
that referred to by authority 1, centred at SU 8686 7982. The
ditched enclosure is only partially visible to the north and south of
the buildings and this measures 110m across.
(Morph No.s TG.509.1.1-3)
This description is based on data from the RCHME MORPH2 database. (15) |