More information : [SP 79829299] Roman Villa [G.S.] (Site of) (1)
"A tesselated pavement was discovered at Medbourne about the year 1721..."This pavement was again opened... 1793... It is in a yard about 50 yards distance North from the sign of the Red Lion, about three feet and a half below the surface, it probably extends several yards as the extremities were not explored. It appears to have been formed of square stones, in size about three quarters of an inch over; some apparently of lime-stone, others of composition-stone, coloured red, black &c but not enriched with such beautiful devices as those found at Leicester ... " (2)
Re-excavated in 1801. "The earth that lay upon it was a rich black mould, intermixed with stone, fragments of Roman bricks, pottery etc. No coins were found amongst it." Mr. William Fowler of Winterton, in Lincolnshire, made a drawing of the pavement which "he intends to publish" [Not found amongst Fowler's published work at the B.M.] (3)
"Medbourne Tesselated Pavement...
Found in the year 1721 in a square entrenchment, not very far from the church... Again opened in 1793 and in the beginning of this year 1877... by a gentleman who... removed it... to London... The original extent of the pavement seems to have been (over all) about 42 feet by 22 feet."" (pp 70-71) "Situated in a small paddock not far from the church, and by the side of the stream,... the ground being about to be occupied as a site for cottages... the tesserae were removed, and are now deposited in South Kensington Museum ... Mr. Peake... possesses a considerable number of Roman coins found by the labourers at different times; many of them are of... Constantine others earlier (p.92) The pavement was found "not far from the church (about fifty yards to the west of it) (p. 171) (4)
Ro. villa at Medbourne. (5)
There is no record of the tessellated pavement from Medbourne ever having been sent to the South Kensington Museum: it appears certain that this pavement has not been preserved. (6)
Further references: (7-9)
The fragments of the Roman pavement were twice exposed and in 1871, when the offer of them to South Kensington Museum having been refused, they remained for some years in an office in London and were finally destroyed. (10)
The OS published siting falls in a garden at Saller's Cottage. The occupant of the cottage - Mr. J. Phillips - knew the history of the villa and confirmed that the site is that accepted locally. It appears that some casual digging was done in the early 1930s. Nothing of significance was seen in the garden. In Market Harborough Museum are a few red-brick tesserae from the villa - believed to have come from the 1930 digging. (11)
A small number of late Iron Age pottery sherds, two with incised decoration have been found at SP 798930 principally in areas adjacent to Medbourne Brook. (12)
Miss E J Linford reports that a sherd found some years ago in spoil from a post hole is now known to be a neck sherd of a pagan Saxon cremation urn. The sherd, which is black and micaceous is decorated with three-line chevrons with indications of demarcating lines above and below. (13)
Mr and Mrs Plunkett have collected material from their garden. The earliest pot sherd is in a grog tempered fabric of the 'Belgic' tradition and dates to the 1st century A.D. Part of the garden was formerly Bentley's Orchard where the Roman mosaic was uncovered in the 19th century. Evidence of a Roman building was found by the Plunkett's in the form of tesserae, tile and pottery, (running through to the 4th century A.D.). A sherd of Anglo Saxon pottery and a quantity of Saxo-Norman Medieval and post-Medieval pottery was also recovered. A spindlewhorl, bone pin, slag and burnt daub are also represented in the collection. (14)
LE 62 Listed as the site of a Roman villa. (15) |