Roman Villa with bathouse and hypocaust system Revealed near near Trosley
KAS Archaeological excavations on farmland near Trosley have revealed a Roman villa and possible bathhouse containing the remains of an underfloor heating system (hypocaust).
A fieldwork team uncovered the remains of a Roman villa near Trosley. Along with the wall foundations of the main villa building, the discovery of a partially intact hypocaust system came during an excavation led by the Society. They were helped by experienced volunteers and residents on a September community excavation.
Site director, Richard Taylor, who led the excavation along with KAS General Manager Clive Drew, explained that the presence of the hypocaust – which likely heated a bathhouse – suggested the occupants were reasonably high status.
Three evaluation trenches were sited over cropmarks identified by Chris Blair-Myers (Fig 2); one sited over the main building
(Trench 1) and two over what was thought to have been an ancillary building (Trenches 2 & 3).
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Fig 1: Excavations at Trosley Roman Villa
Trench 1 revealed wall foundations of a villa building composed of mortared ragstone and flint. The interior sub-floors remain and are composed of compacted chalk.
Fortunately, the foundations fit the cropmark projections, so the extent of the building can be extrapolated with a degree of confidence (30m x 15m). In addition to third and fourth- century pottery, Trench 1 revealed a quantity of multicoloured painted wall plaster, which likely adorned the interior walls of the villa (Fig 4).
Trench 3, sited over the ancillary building, revealed a concentration of building rubble and, toward the west, an exterior mettled surface constructed of compacted flints (Fig 6).
Excavations in Trench 2 revealed a wall foundation to the east and a curved wall or apse-like feature to the west of what we believe to be a bathhouse. A sondage adjacent to the east wall revealed a pillar – pilae stack – is part of the underfloor heating system beneath the bathhouse (Fig 8).
Operating a hypocaust was expensive and required a constant supply of fuel – firewood – and a workforce to run it. The system worked on the principle of hot gases circulating in enclosed airspace within the bathhouse. The Roman-
British would likely use laid tiles for their floors and ceramic tile for their wall spaces. Sealing the building’s interior was essential to prevent smoke and harmful gases from escaping into the rooms. A layer of ash and soot surrounding the base of the stack has been sampled to try and understand the type of wood used as fuel.
A hypocaust system would’ve ensured warm and inviting spaces if working correctly. However, due to the expense and the labour needed to tend the fires, a hypocaust was limited to villas of the wealthy and public buildings. Richard commented, “1700 years ago, heating your home was expensive, so nothing has changed.”
The community excavation was part of the more comprehensive KAS Trosley Heritage Project and uncovered several artefacts,
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Fig 2: Cropmark projections of the villa complex identified by Chris Blair-Myers using Google Earth, with Trenches 1-3 overlaying
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Fig 3: Aerial view of Trench 1 showing wall foundations and sub-floors (chalk)
Top left
Fig 4: Multicoloured wall plaster from villa interior
Top, right
Fig 5: Aerial view of Trenches 2 & 3 sited over bathhouse building
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Fig 6: Mettled surface (left) to the west of bathhouses building
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Fig 7: Looking north at the pilae stack; evidence of ash/ soot can be seen at the base, sealed with backfill material
The KAS team first identified the villa’s location using Google Earth (2007) images, showing crop markings outlining the site. September’s excavation was carried out with the help of over 50 volunteers, and members of the community were invited to view the excavation trenches and artefacts on the final day.
“Overall, it was a big success,” added Richard. “We proved the presence of a likely high-status Roman-British villa complex, as indicated on the Google Earth images, had lots of local interest and school visits. So it was terrific and engaged the local community with their Romano-British past.”
The Society plan to return next year (September 2023) with another community excavation to investigate the bathhouse further. Before
From dating the pottery and coins, the team could estimate that the villa likely dated back to the 3rd and 4th centuries. A relatively wealthy farmer probably occupied it. But these Roman- British farmers weren’t the first residents in the area – the nearby Coldrum Long Barrow dates to around 3900 BC, meaning some of the nearby lands were probably being farmed for thousands of years before the villa appeared.
Perhaps this suggests a continuity of settlement in the area that goes back c.5000 years, which is not surprising given its idyllic location and agricultural potential.
The villa is like just one episode in a much greater time frame.
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Fig 8: Apse-like structure/wall on the west side of the bathhouse building
Top, right
Fig 9: Fourth-century copper alloy amphora strap-end
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Fig 10: Constantine II coin (c.330-5 AD)
School Visits
During the excavations, visits were made by classes from Trosley Primary school. Children from Years 3 to 6 explored the site, engaged in artefact handling and suggested scenarios about what life may have been like at the villa. A selection of their thoughts is shared on these pages.
Work Experience
The excavation enabled Henry Shepherd, a Year 11 student at Maidstone Grammar School to undertake a period of work experience on-site, undertaking and learning a variety of new skills:
I am a year 11 student at Maidstone Grammar School studying for my GCSEs. I have always enjoyed History; over recent years, I have also developed an interest in Classical Civilisations. When I got the chance to participate in a local archaeological excavation, I was excited about the opportunity.
The process began last year when the Kent Archaeological Society carried out preliminary fieldwalks and dug test pits after crop markings were identified on Google Earth following a particularly dry period. This, along with a resistivity survey, suggested the presence of the main villa and another outhouse, potentially a bathhouse.
We spent six days in September excavating and recording three evaluation trenches, whilst metal detectorists swept the surrounding area. The first day I was at the site, Richard Taylor, the lead archaeologist helped to show me the ropes and introduce me to the tools I would become accustomed to by the end of the week: an archaeologist’s best friend, the trowel, used to expose finds and cut through mud and soil; a bucket for excavated soil; a spade for cleaning loose debris off the trench floor, a pair of gloves and, finally, a kneeling mat to protect my knees. I enjoyed the excavation, using the tools I had learnt how to use to gradually chip away at the earth and unveil objects not touched or seen in thousands of years. On the first day, we began to find ceramic building materials and what was possibly building
I was introduced to resistivity surveying. This consists of connecting two metal rods with a current flowing through them to the ground. It can suggest the presence of certain features, such as walls if it gives a reading of high resistance from where the current has encountered an obstruction. From the survey I helped conduct in the manor house garden, we identified a line of high resistance leading out from the manor house to an unused field, which could be a path leading to a building lost to time.
Throughout the rest of the week, I spent some time cleaning the finds. This is quite an interesting job since it allows you to examine all the finds, such as building materials, colourful wall plaster and more. Added to this, on the penultimate day of my time at Trosley, I helped to detect a nearby field. It was the perfect example of beginner’s luck, within twenty minutes, we had found a silver coin dating to AD 1687 during the reign of King James I and a tiny jewellery box- style key later identified as Roman.
Throughout the entire week,
I felt like part of the team and was welcomed with open arms by everybody there. I also learnt a lot from all the experienced excavators and archaeologists there who helped me. I hope I can do something similar in the future.
I want to thank the Kent Archaeological Society for the opportunity and kindly allowing me to take home a bucket of tools to use on future digs.
Henry Shepherd
