Bignor Roman Villa

It was good to be back together for the start of the Autumn season and we were treated to a really interesting talk about Bignor Roman Villa.

Liz Leggit explained that the Bignor site is a rare example of a Roman Villa which appears at first glance to have been built in a fairly remote area. It was discovered by George Tupper when his plough hit the edge of a pool under the soil in 1811. He realised he had hit something significant and started to uncover the remains of the building, soon bringing in experts to excavate the whole site. Once excavated, he decided to build Sussex Barns on the Roman footings in order to protect the very beautiful mosaic floors and these buildings are also now listed as rare examples of this barn technique which includes wheat thatched roofs.

We were treated to an array of photographs of the arrangement of the buildings, how it would have looked and the detailed designs on the floors, while Liz told us interesting facts and anecdotes about their history. The presence of the villa is now explained as we know that the resident grew wheat for the Roman army on a vast scale in the surrounding area. This also explains why the Villa was stripped and abandoned at around the time the Romans left Britain, which in turn meant that it was well preserved, remaining undisturbed until the start of the 19th century.

After the talk members were able to look at a number of artefacts brought from the site and ask Liz more questions over delicious refreshments provided by Ann and Katharine.