Villa Rustica (Southwick)
The Southwick Villa Rustica was a Roman house near Southwick , in the south of England in West Sussex .
The remains of the villa were discovered in 1815. It is reported that floors were exposed in the course of this undocumented excavation. In 1847 there were apparently further, undocumented excavations, during which at least four rooms were uncovered and mosaics and wall paintings were found. The field on which the villa stood was sold in 1930 to build houses. S. Winbolt and Salmon were given permission to excavate the villa, but a road was built across the southern part of the villa before the first excavations began. In 1931 the villa was largely uncovered in an emergency excavation. In 1953 houses were built on the site.
The villa was one of the largest in the Roman province of Britain . It was built in the first century and was inhabited until the third century. The building was grouped around a peristyle . The living quarters were in the north, and a triclinium in the east facing the entrance to the complex. There was a basilica in the south . The villa was once richly furnished, as the finds of gilded mosaic stones show. It had the character of a palace and it was assumed that high Roman officials resided here. At the end of the first century, parts of the villa were rebuilt. This may have been accompanied by a change in function.
literature
- Miles Russel: Roman Sussex. Stroud 2006, pp. 133-138, 145
Web links
Coordinates: 50 ° 50 ′ 13 ″ N , 0 ° 14 ′ 2 ″ W.