PreviousBignor Villa
Bignor Roman Villa is a privately owned ancient monument that boasts some of the best preserved mosaics in England. Bignor Villa was discovered in 1811 when a local farmer, George Tupper struck a stone in the midst of ploughing his field. He enlisted the help of Samuel Lysons and John Hawkins and by 1819 the two men had excavated one of the most impressive Roman farmsteads in Britain.Bignor Villa lay on Stane Street, an ancient road that ran from Chichester to London. The earliest remains date to AD 190 but Bignor Villa continued to be used up to the fourth century. As such, it is a crossover between a villa and a farmstead. In Latin 'villa' denotes a farm and the first structures the Romans built in Britain were constructed out of timber. By the second and third centuries these started to be replaced by stone. Bignor Villa followed this pattern and the first stone structure comprised just four rooms which would later become the west wing. Eventually, northern, southern and eastern wings were arranged in a square shape around a central courtyard. The whole comprised some 65 rooms with a further nine outbuildings.
Unfortunately, much of the original Bignor Villa has been lost but enough remains as awe-inspiring evidence of what this Roman country estate once looked like. On your visit, you'll be able to see the summer and winter dining rooms, the bathhouse and changing rooms and the western part of the north wing. The latter sports longest mosaic on display in England. The 24m mosaic shows a high quality of craftsmanship and in its original form it would have extended to a total of some 70 metres.
The winter dining room at Bignor Villa has a well-preserved hypocaust heating system. An early type of central heating system it was much more advanced than anything the British had seen before but strangely the fad never caught on (even with the departure of the Romans). The hypocaust system operated by channels of walls underneath the floor which were fed with hot air via an outdoor fire and stoke hole. You'll also be able to see a large part of one of the finest mosaics in existence which features Venus and the Gladiators. If you look closely, you'll notice that the goddess of love will eye you up wherever you stand in the room! Meanwhile the frieze depicts cupids dressed as gladiators engaged in a series of fighting scenes supervised by the Rudarius or umpire while an injured gladiator lies on the ground. In the summer dining room, you'll be able to see the piscina or ornamental water fountain which was designed as a decorative focal point and fed by a lead pipe running underneath the floor. It is decorated with a mosaic of Ganymede, a beautiful young shepherd who captured the eye of Zeus and was carried away by an eagle to become a cup-bearer for the gods.
In the bath area, you'll find Medusa in the changing area. This excellent mosaic portrays the head of one of the three Gorgon sisters, Medusa. She was raped by Poseidon in the temple of Athena and thereby incurred Athena's wrath. In revenge, Athena turned Medusa's hair into snakes and anyone who looked upon her head would be turned to stone. From the changing area, you can enter the bath complex which will take you through the caldarium, tepidarium and frigidarium or hot room, warm room and cold plunge pool.
Other mosaics on display include a crude representation of the Four Seasons in the west wing and the steps which once connected the north and west corridors. These are the oldest mosaics on display here and date to circa AD 250. In the southern portion of the winter mosaic, you'll be able to see a dolphin which also depicts the signature of the designer of these mosaics, Terentius.
Also on site at Bignor Roman Villa is a small museum which details the history of this wonderful discovery, a model constructed by Mr. J. Morgan showing a representation of Samuel Lyson's Plan of 1819 and excavated finds of gold, bronze, iron, bone, antler and pottery which have all helped to date Bignor Villa. The whole is surrounded by the beautiful countryside of Sussex. All visitors are given a warm welcome in this privately owned establishment.
Location
Address: Bignor Lane
Postcode: RH20 1PH
Town/city or near: Pulborough
County: West Sussex
Opening Times
Bignor Villa is open between March and April from Tuesday to Sunday between 10am and 5pm. In May open daily between 10am and 5pm and from June to September daily from 10am to 6pm. Also open in October, daily from 10am to 5pm.
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