| Summary : Roman corridor villa discovered in 1876 and subsequently robbed for its stone; roof tiles, painted wall plaster, pottery, coins and a hypocaust were found. Subsequent excavations have uncovered remains of the villa. Parts of the villa complex, including a number of buildings and walls and a large double ditched enclosure, are visible as cropmarks on aerial photographs. |
| More information : [SU 37498793] ROMAN VILLA [G.S] (site of) (1)
The foundations of five rooms of a Roman corridor villa were reported to E.C. Davey by Corporal Stephenson of the Ordnance Survey, in a field on Cranhill Farm [now Cornhill Farm], a mile and a half due west of Wantage between East Challow and Childrey, in 1876. Finds included a hypocaust at the southern end, painted wall plaster, coloured flanged roofing tiles, pottery sherds, including Samian, many oyster shells and animal bones but no tesserae. Only five coins ranging from Trajan to Constantine were found but the site had been previously robbed. The remains of the villa were completely destroyed by stone-robbing in 1876. (2-3)
No remains of the villa are to be seen but the site is strewn with RB pottery sherds. (4)
A trench dug through this villa by Mr A V Grover revealed a chalk wall, 2 ft wide and 12 ft long, a two-period chalk floor and a rubbish pit. IA and Roman sherds were found. (5)
A small Neolithic thumb scraper with a matural perforation in the middle was found on the site. A grid ref. of SU 375879 is given although the location is stated to be the Cornhill Roman Villa at East Challow. (6)
Mr A V Grover has found various objects on the surface of the field in 1972, including a glass bead, wall plaster and an iron knfe. (7)
Additional references. (8-9)
Recent ploughing has displaced quantities of stone, pottery and some coins. A small exploratory excavation was carried out in the autumn of 1972. A rubble and flint floor was exposed with some rotted walling, also a nearby damaged chalk floor. Two parallel trenches showed various other walls. (10)
OX 61 Listed as the site of a Roman villa. (11)
Parts of the Roman villa complex, referred to by the previous authorities, are visible as cropmarks and have been mapped from aerial photographs. A partially visible double ditched enclosure, measuring 100m by 160m, is centred at SU 3755 8793. Within this enclosure are the remains of a number of rectangular buildings and wall footings. Some of the cropmarks appear to represent the remains of rubble spreads, one of which forms a rectangle which measures 30m by 15m and is centred at SU3757 8793. (12)
Further detail was recorded as cropmarks on Historic England oblique reconnaissance photographs taken 11th July 2018. (13)
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