The Roman Villa at Wingham Part II

( 351 ) THE EOMAN VILLA AT WINGHAM. PAET II. BY GEORGE DOWKER, F.G.S. DURING the excavations at Wingham in 1882 we traced the hypocaust connected with room No. 2 (which was 11 feet 2 inches wide) to the extent westward of 28 feet, where a different arrangement of flues was found. On recommencing our work this westward excavation was completed. Beyond the lateral flues marked AB, A B, in No. 4 B of my former plan,* a cross opening flue pierced the south wall (similar to that marked E), and extending 7 feet beyond, with a width of 18 iuches, terminated abruptly in masonry that arched over the terminal extremity. This fire flue (paved with tiles and full of charcoal and ashes) was probably connected with a chimney or a stokehole. The masonry surrounding it had semicircular steps leading up, on the east side of the flue, to a semicircular block of masonry levelled to the height of the wall of the hypocaust. On the outer face of this block of masonry there was red concrete, similar to that lining the inside walls. This southward extension was about 9 feet deep and 15 feet wide. Apparently some room or vestibule stood there ; portions only remained. Opposite the flues marked AB, AB, and on the western side of the lateral passage, similar flues composed of pilse of tiles were found; they probably resembled those opposite ; but many of them were thrown down, and laterally compressed out of their original position. These pilse of tile flues were backed westward by a great mass of masonry, having, however, a central passage, connecting the east and west of the hypocaust. At the south-west angle of this block was a lateral fire flue, at a higher level, passing in a southwesterly direction into the south vestibule. This block of masonry appears to have been built against a western cross wall which formed the boundary to the west of the first Eoman structure, the extreme length of which, measured from the inner wall of room No. 2, was 44 feet; and the width between the north and south See Arahcsoloffia Cantiana, Vol. XIV., p. 136. 352 THE ROMAN VILLA AT WINGHAM. walls was 11 feet 4 inches at the east end, but was 4 inches less at the west end. The whole of this part of the structure rests upon a foundation of large flint stones, covered with a concrete of mortar and small flint pebbles, and this particular concrete terminates at the 44 feet, where the cross wall of tiles formerly existed. The block of masonry before mentioned is built in the shape of a small rectangular room on the south side, and in a cross T shaped mass on the north ; the whole of the interspace was filled in with large irregular flint stones. Mr. Sheppard caused these to be removed from the south side. I considered this was only a similarly used block to those found in the primary hypocaust, where the fire and smoke had penetrated between the interstices of the stones; but Mr. Sheppard thought otherwise. The position and form of these blocks will be best understood by referring to the bird's-eye view, where they occupy the centre of the hypocaust. The lateral walls of this building appear to have been subsequently extended westward by the Eomans. The walls hitherto found had been built at a certain height with Eoman tiles of a yellow colour, and the floor was of one uniform concrete. I found the portion of the west wall of these yellow tiles broken off in a similar way to that I before described, marked in the plan as ~E¥. I must not omit to mention that the sides of the central fire passage, east and west, towards this western end, were built up in a very rude manner, and capped with large Eoman roofing tiles, and this passage between the south and north blocks of masonry was very uneven. We traced this further western extension of the hypocaust till it was terminated westward by a cross wall, at 60 feet 7 inches, from the inner eastern wall of room No. 2 on the plan. At the west end a rectangular room was found, about 10 feet square, sunk lower than the remainder of the building. This chamber was filled with ashes and stones as high as the lateral outer walls ; at that level appeared a rough concrete. On clearing this out, with the charcoal and debris, we found it had no paved bottom, and we soon reached the water level; the side walls resting on foundations of large stones, which also we could probe at various depths in this room. In the south-eastern corner of this, beneath the ashes, we found a large and nearly entire earthen vessel, in an upright position. Eesting on the south wall of this building, but not quite in the centre of it, we discovered a OONOEBTE BATH. It was of the shape of a slipper bath. Its length was, at the top, from east to weBt, 3 feet 10 inches ; at the bottom, 3 feet 6 inches, Its breadth at Mi .4* A/JIDS EYE VIEW Of EXCAVATION AT ROMAN VILLA WINGHAM /.aOAr/NA tf£ST THE ROMAN VILLA AT WINGHAM. 35 3 the east side, 24 inches at the top, 20 inches at the bottom ; on the west side, 26 inches at the top, 22 inches at the bottom; depth about 19 inches. The sides were composed of concrete, mixed with pounded tile, about 6 inches thick, smooth on the inner face, having a beading of concrete at each corner, and a rounded cornice 3 inches deep at the bottom. The structure rested on the continuation of the south wall of the hypocaust, which had been bnilt out on this side wider to receive it. There was no aperture in this bath to let out the water; but it was cracked down to the bottom on the outer angle. On the north wall of this chamber, nearly opposite this bath, and resting on the wall, we found indications of another similar bath. Eed-tile concrete rested on the wall at a similar level, and a large mass of pounded tile concrete was found in the debris beyond, very like one side of a similar bath. ' Near the centre of this side of the wall was an opening lined with calcined red tiles, forming a flue, that must have gone under the bath. It was filled with charcoal and ashes; in which were found some bone pins and Eoman coins. Erom this flue a small lateral branch existed, which must have passed longitudinally under the bath. The walls of this westward extension were made of flint stones in concrete, with red-tile facings in the corners. The space that intervened between the blocks of masonry crossing the building was roughly paved with large stone in cement. Tile, however, was laid in the central flue, connecting the latter with the former hypocaust. Mr. Sheppard, in my note-book, has described this western room as a plunging bath, for, when we cleared out the debris, it was soon filled with water. The flues and ashes in it, and leading from it, I think, do not support this theory. The tiled flue piercing this north-western wall was next traced out. It was lined throughout with red tiles, and these shewed the effects of fire in their calcined state, and crumbled readily to pieces. This flue was 16 inches wide; we traced it about 13 feet northwards, where it was broken up; there a large quantity of ashes were met with as if raked out of these flues. Northward, and at right angles with the north-west line of the wall of the hypocaust, we have traced a block of buildings in great part destroyed, consisting partly of Eoman, and partly of other badly-built flint walls laid on Eoman material, but of inferior workmanship. I have prepared a plan of them, but they were in places so disconnected, so wanting in the strength and solidity of the former buildings, that I am compelled to believe they were not VOI/. XV. A. A 354 THE ROMAN VILLA AT WINGHAM. of Eoman workmanship. On digging deeper I found the remains of a Eoman wall, with its characteristic good mortar lying beneath, though sadly broken up in places. This wall extended 14 feet northward, in continuation of the extreme western wall of the hypocaust; it then turned away to the east, at right angles, for about 12 feet, where its remains were buried beneath later walls, partially destroyed. Another wall, set off at right angles with the hypocaust wall, also partially destroyed, was met with extending 12 feet north, and having a turn 5 feet east. The end of this had a narrow wall mostly formed of Eoman roofing-tiles built on to it. All else beyond the walls I have described consisted of fragmentary remains and Eoman materials, which lie scattered at intervals at about 4 feet in depth over some acres of ground, north and south of the existing foundations. I have been accustomed to use a sort of divining rod of my own construction to probe the ground; it consists of a rod of steel 5 feet long, with a cross handle at the top and pointed at the bottom. With this I can penetrate the soil up to the handle if no stones lie in the way; if they do, another trial a short distance off will prove if they are a continuous layer at that depth. In this way we have probed all the meadow at Wingham Court below the stackyard, some acre or more of the field south of the buildings, and above the stackyard along the fence from top to bottom of the field. In many eases foundations have been detected, and these have been dug down to and explored. It has been found almost invariably that such traces have been buried beneath three or four feet of earth, without any material of human workmanship, that could be ascribed to a date later than the Normans. A very large proportion of the material so found was of Eoman manufacture. Another fact has been ascertained—viz., that all the Eoman foundations of the hypocaust, or more certainly of that part I have termed the secondary hypocaust, were laid on material thrown down over a boggy or peaty soil of very considerable depth. The bath-rooms were built on the margin of a lake or swamp; more suited for the site of a bath than of a habitation or dwelling-house. The accumulated soil consists of worm-mould, probably aided by the fall of the ground in this direction and the hand of the cultivator. In some cases we have found traces of roads laid on chalk or lime and consisting of small beach pebbles. One such existed running south-east from the tessellated bath; another nearly due north from the third tessellated room. The absence of continuous buildings surrounding these foundations might be accounted for, on the supposition that THE ROMAN VILLA AT WINGHAM. 35 5 this had been a public bath, and not connected with one villa, but rather with a cluster of villas. This idea is strengthened from the near proximity of another villa, just by at Ickham (which has never been thoroughly explored). During the Eoman occupation of Britain the Wingham bath had been altered and enlarged. The westward extension of the hypocaust proving this, from the difference in the construction of the walls. The eastern part being entirely built of yellow bricks, and paved with a uniform concrete; while the westward portion had a different bottom, and the walls were of flint stones with comer-facing of red tiles; and there may even be a third enlargement shewn by the masonry to the north-west. The relics found during the excavation afford us another proof of the character and use made of the building by its earlier and later occupants. We found a small proportion of Samian pottery, in small pieces; fragments of vitreous pottery, like biscuit china, similar, I think, to some found at Brading; small fragments of thin glass; eight Eoman small brass coins of the later Eoman period; two bone hair-pins; an iron key (Eoman or Saxon); a large billhook ; part of a fibula; iron nails; a bronze knife-handle; and a chalk belemnite used as an ornament; all of which were derived from the ashes at the bottom of the flues. Scattered over these, in the debris of the foundations, were found coarse black pottery apparently belonging to culinary vessels; Upchurch ware in some abundance; bones in great abundance of the ox, pig, and deer; mill-stones and fragments of querns (one of puddingstone and one of lava); a Eoman coin of Antoninus Pius, with a hole bored through it, as though used for a charm. These, with the destruction of the earlier foundations, the apparent use made of the tessellated rooms for mill purposes, the abundance of culinary vessels, and the wide-spread extent of the debris, shew that its site was occupied by a semi-barbarous people, who had used up the material for other purposes, utilizing only what suited them for the farm or the mill. The evidences of this are found in examination of the hypocaust buildings, the suspended floors of which (having fallen in upon the ashes filling the flues beneath) were afterwards built up with ruder material and utilized for other purposes. I n my former paper I alluded to the traces visible in the corn fields (some distance removed from the bath) of foundations of buildings. I took the opportunity when the corn was cut to open trenches in the arable field south-east of the stackyard at Wingham Court, with the following result:—At 40 feet from the wire fence of the stackyard, south of the meadow, and at 45 feet from the A A 2 356 THE ROMAN VILLA AT WINGHAM. south-east angle of the stackyard fence, we came on a floor of a room which had been paved with red tesserae of Eoman tiles, merely resting on the earth. Erom this we uncovered walls 40 feet in length, and others parallel 25 feet distant with one enclosed rectangular space 25 feet square at right angles to the latter and more to the east. These walls were in most cases less than 1 foot from the surface of the field ; they were composed of flints and friable mortar, that yielded readily to the pick; they were not quite regular, and not quite rectangular in places, 2 to 3 feet wide. Q^hey rested at places on Eoman tiles and debris of Eoman workmanship. A great many of such relics were found on digging down each side of the walls. About a bushel-basket-full of pieces of TJpchurch pottery, a small piece of a quern of lava, red-deer horns, fragments of Samian pottery, and some disconnected pieces of blue tesserae, like those from the bath-rooms. Traces of charcoal and fire were visible along some parts of these walls. Yery few relics of modern or mediawal date were found. These walls were about 100 yards south-east from the bath. What connection had they with it ? Were they part of the Eoman Villa ? Were they of later Saxon date ? It is difficult to give a decided answer to these interesting questions. I have most carefully looked for any clue to guide me. The direction of the walls crosses the wire fence (which runs nearly due east and west) at an angle of about 35°. The wall of the bath cuts the wire fence in the same direction, but not at the Bame angle. I think these facts point to the conclusion that some Eoman buildings existed here, connected, it may be, with the hypocaust buildings. These had been burned down and overthrown, and subsequently rebuilt for agricultural purposes by Saxons, making use of the Eoman material. Some trace of a road was found between the bath and this latter building. Eoman tiles lie scattered over a large portion of the field, called the Vineyard, even as far as the highway from Wingham to Adisham. The farm adjoining Wingham Court goes by the significant name of Crockshard. A Saxon burial-place at Witherdens Hall, on the adjoining farm close by, was explored by the late Lord Londesborough, and described by Douglas in Nenia Brit., pi. xi., fig 1, 2; pi. xii., fig 4; and in Bryan Eaussett's Inventorium Sepulchrale. On Twitham Earm a large amphora was found, containing a beautiful and perfect Samian bowl, now in the possession of the Eev. BE. Gilder, of Sandwich. A bronze vessel was found at Ickham Hall, now in Mr. George Payne's collection. And funeral vessels in my collection were derived from a. field at Wickhani-Breux,, THE ROMAN VILLA AT WINGHAM. 35 7 The stream that flows by the Wingham Villa is artificially embanked, and forms a mill-head that supplies a small water-mill close to Wingham Church. Plans and particulars of the foundation at Wingham have been preserved; but, in accordance with an agreement with the tenant of the farm, Mr. J. Eobinson, the excavations have been filled in and sown with grass seed. EOMAN COINS FOTXNB IN THE WINGHAM BATH. No. 1. ANTONINUS PIUS : large brass, with the common reverse of a standing female. This coin was perforated for suspension as an ornament; no doubt in Saxon times. No. 2. CONSTANTINE THE GEEAT : the reverse is of the altar type, "BEATA TBANQUILLITAS." The mint-mark STE. shews that it was struck at Treves. No. 3. Obv. IMP. CONSTANTINTTS MAX. AUG. Head and bust in armour. Rev. vicroEiiB JJJETJB N. PEINCIPIS; two winged figures hold a shield in which, upon a cippus, is VOT. PB. No. 4. VIOTOEINUS. No. 5. TETEICUS. Nos. 6, 7, and 8. Of the OOSBTASTISE family. No. 9. Obv. [MA&mNTJire NOB. OE. Rev. VIOTOEUE DDNN. AUG. ET CAES; two winged genii hold a wreath within which is vor. v. MX. NOTE. Among relics found of uncertain date, I would specially mention the large millstone found in No. 2 room, described in my former paper, p. 137, Arehceologia Cantiana, Vol. XIV., and now shewn in the bird's-eye view. Pieces of similar sculptured stones of lava, and in all probability Eoman millstones, have been found in the debris. And a similar millstone of Eoman make was found at Ericonium. The large iron billhook was very similar in form and size to those at present in use. But the Eomans seem to have used similar tools. A piece of sculptured stone represents, I believe, part of a capital, rather like a small Norman capital, but with a sort of diagonal string or cable pattern. This again may be of Eoman workmanship. It was found among the debris, but no other similar fragments have been found.