More information : (Name TL 12709724) ROMAN VILLA (R) (Site of) (NAT) (1)
(TL 12629725) Roman houses and tessellated pavements found 1828. (2)
Four large buildings on Mill Hill (Centred TL 12569725) excavated
by Artis; three appear to be fragments only. The buildings
contained mosaic and tessellated pavements, and hypocausts. St
Joseph interprets these four buildings as two wings of a large
house. (3,4)
Under crop, the exact site could not be confirmed. Artis's panorama
suggest it may be further north. Mill Hill Roman villa, TL 12609725,
partly excavated by Artis who found remains of four buildings
apparently arranged asymmetrically. The easternmost may have been
one wing of a corridor building, and two rooms at the N end
contained two fine mosaic pavements. To the west was a rectangular
building 25ft by 67ft, containing seven rooms, which may have been
a detached bath block. Further west again were the remains of
another building of at least four rooms, two with hypocausts. Then
beyond to the west was a corridor house, containing a number of
rooms, one with a hypocaust. Air photographs show a completely
different, and more convincing, layout to that given by Artis, only
explicable by assuming that Artis' plan is incorrect or that he
dug another part of the site. Ranges of buildings are visible
arranged along two and perhaps three sides of a large courtyard,
with other features to the south and south-west. Large quantities
of pottery, mainly Nene Valley wares but including fragments of
Samian, floor, roof and box tiles, and large amounts of limestone
rubble have been found on the site. Some 70 to 80 yards east of the
villa Artis dug what were probably two kilns. (5-6)
Scheduled listing (7)
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