More information : (TQ 05360450) Roman Villa (GSC) (site of) (1)
A Roman villa and subsidiary buildings have been partially excavated in a meadow between Angmering and Poling.
a. The villa (TQ 05310451), not yet fully excavated, lies within an area bordered by marshes to the east and north and a ditch to the south and west. A ditch (D) and some pits (TQ 05240444) were found to contain early Iron Age pottery, bones, and pot-boilers.
b. The main bath-building (TQ 05380454) was constructed at the beginning of the Flavian period and lasted until the mid-second century. The main drain leads to a ditch to the north. Finds in the bath-house include Samian and coarse pottery, coins, bronze implements, a 'Swarling' type brooch and Belgic pottery.
c. A roughly constructed bath-house (TQ 05440449) south east of the main bath house, is approximately 35ft by 15ft. There were little or no foundations.
Building E (TQ 05420448) is 60ft by 24ft with walls 2' 6" thick, with the exception of the south sall which is 6 inches narrower. Part of the top section of a rotary quern was found in this building.
f. Trial trenches have revealed the foundations of one or more buildings (TQ 05460446) which may have been of timber.
Building (TQ 05430443) is 20' 3" by 13' 6" with walls approximately 7ft thick, and is similar to the temple of Autun in France and a building on Jordan Hill near Weymouth. It resembles in many ways a small temple or tomb, but lacks the surrounding wall usually associated with Romano-Celtic Temples. Some pre-Roman sherds and irregularly placed post-holes indicate an earlier building which had been incorporated. Pottery found in the earliest of the two ditches SE of building F suggests a date AD 43-70.
Scheduled. (See Illustration Card). (2-6)
The line of the walls of the main building 'A' are traceable on the ground as flint rubble footings centred at TQ 05290451. An excavation trench is still open. An excavation plan of the building suggests a villa of indeterminate type. The principal bath house walls at 'B' are traceable with difficulty as the site has been badly mutilated. The cloaca is visible as a tiled drain, c 3m in depth below the present ground level, and 0.7 m in width, the walling brick having been excavated and found undisturbed. On the site of the sub-bath house 'c' centred at TQ 05430447 are partially filled excavation trenches, spoil heaps and coarse vegetation, making it impossible to trace any building line on the ground. The same applies to buildings 'E', centred at TQ 05420447, 'F', centred at TQ 05450446, and 'G', ? temple, centred at TQ 05420446.
The whole villa site is covered by a heavy scatter of Ro. brick and tile, spoil heaps and partially-filled excavation trenches and, in places, dense, coarse vegetation. No attempt has been made to restore or preserve any portion.
Surveyed a 1:2500, in conjunction with, and with reference to, the General Plan of Angmering Roman Villa, scale 1/16. (R Cutler), now held by Littlehampton Museum. (7)
The field in which the villa is sited is at present freshly ploughed. All traces of the excavation have been erased, and all that remains is a wide scatter of Ro brick and tile, and flints. The site lies upon a raised piece of ground encircled, except to the E, by low-lying, formerly marshy land. (8)
Cinliffe notes `striking similarities' between Angmering villa and the Fishbourne proto-palace (SU 80 SW 5) just 14 miles to the west. He argues that in date, size, plan and constructional and decorative detail, the two buildings are closely comparable and suggests the possibility that the same architect may have been involved. (9-11)
Additional references - general discussions on villas. (12-17)
Stamped tile in the bath building dates to c.90-110 AD. Building demolished c.160. Indications of a date of c.75-80 AD for other baths. There does not seem to have been 4th century occupation. Detailed discussion of the detached bath-building. (18)
WS 1 Listed as the site of a Roman villa. (19)
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