More information : TR 2407 3700: Roman Villa (NR) (Remains of) (1)
A Roman villa in front of Martello tower No.2 (TR 23 NW 28) on the Warren, East Wear Bay, Folkestone, was excavated by Winbolt in 1924. It consisted of two blocks (see illustration card) built on the site of a pre-Roman cemetery (TR 23 NW 109). Block A was built in the second half of the first century AD and was then re-built at the same time as Block B was constructed. This has been suggested as being circa 90 AD or sometime in the 2nd century occupation of the site appears to continue until 386 AD. The south-eastern end of Block B had been destroyed by cliff falls.
Scheduled - Kent 82. (2-6)
The remains of the villa have been turfed over and there is now nothing to be seen. A selection of finds, both Roman and Belgic, are on exhibition in Folkestone Museum. The remainder, including the coins, are in store. Published 1:2500 survey revised. (7)
Extensive remains of large villa. Part of the bath house has fallen over the cliff since excavation. Occupation appears to have lasted from 100 AD to mid 4th century. The crumbling and overgrown remains were back-filled after the second world war and it was grassed over in 1957 as a public open space. (8)
TR 242 370: "Not excessively large, nor luxurious, corridor villa, with an annexe containing a bath suite". It in fact consisted of two houses, one of which was a rebuild, but only the secondary plan is known. The walls of the earliest villa were built of calcareous tufa on flint and ironstone foundations. The later rebuild was in grey sand-ragstone on chalk and sea pebble foundations with brick for the furnace arches and drains. It is a type of villa not uncommon in Britain. The original house had a bow-fronted wing but the wings on the later houses were entirely straight-fronted. It is a good example of a symmetrical plan and frontage with winged corridor and emphasis on the axial entrance and large room beyond. The room contained the only surviving mosaic; a design unique in Britain. It consisted of a fragmentary square with central medallion, with a medallion at each corner (see illustration card). The buttresses on the wings of the villa suggest height, perhaps on upper storey.
The villa complex had an impressive drainage system and baths; each house having its own. There were unusually high and solid stone piers of a hypocaust. Three different stamps of 'Classis Britannicus' were found on tiles. It has been suggested that the villa was occupied by an officer of the fleet. A number of coins were discovered in the excavations, but Rigold (9) says that the coin list is misleading in its conclusions. Some of the coins were not from the villa but a nearby allotment and no coins were found at the villa between Philip and well into the Constantinian period circa mid 3rd century into the 4th century. This suggests a long gap in the occupation. (9-16)
Additional bibliography not consulted. (17)
KE 36 Listed as the site of a Roman villa. (18)
This site has been mapped from aerial photographs as part of the South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey NMP (Component 2). It is as described above by authorities 1-18 (19).
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