Villa Rustica (Hemsworth)
The Villa Rustica near Hemsworth is a former Roman manor ( Villa rustica ) on the area of today's Hemsworth in the county of Dorset in England .
The villa was discovered in 1831 when several rooms were exposed with mosaics . Further excavations took place in 1908. The remains of the villa were poorly preserved and the early excavators had difficulty creating a plan, especially since most of the stones from the structure had been stolen.
Overall, the villa was once around 77 meters long and 15.4 meters wide. On the southeast corner there was an extension with a bathroom. Coins from the villa all date to the fourth century. About 15 rooms had opus tessellatum floors and a further eleven rooms were decorated with mosaics.
Perhaps the most important mosaic was found in an apse of the bath and shows Venus standing in a shell in the middle . It is the representation of how she rises from the sea ( Anadyomene ). She is naked (but the upper part of the figure is completely destroyed) and stands in a semicircle. The mosaic was improperly dismantled into small pieces and is now in the British Museum in London . Ornamental bands on the sides show fabulous marine animals and fish. Another figural mosaic was found in the main building and shows a bust of Neptune . All other mosaics in the villa are decorated with rather simple geometric patterns.
literature
- Stephen R. Cosh, David S. Neal: Roman Mosaics of Britain. Volume 2: South-West Britain. Illuminata Publishers for the Society of Antiquaries of London, London 2005, ISBN 0-9547916-1-4 , pp. 149-155.
Coordinates: 50 ° 51 '8.6 " N , 2 ° 3' 12.9" W.