Villa rustica (Bramdean)
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The Bramdean villa rustica is a Roman manor house ( villa rustica ) about 15 kilometers east of Venta Belgarum , today's Winchester . Bramdean in the English county of Hampshire is the closest place today.
The villa was discovered by shepherds digging a post hole. It was excavated by William Greenwood in 1823. In 1828 John Lickman drew a plan. His plan shows two buildings. Further brief investigations took place shortly before 1972. The actual villa was in the north and it was a building with a portico in the south and two corner projections . Another building was to the west, it was a three-aisled house with a, probably later, built-in bathroom. The villa was probably built around AD 100, but was not expanded until around AD 300. However, the coins found here all date to the fourth century AD, the last coins date from the time of Constantine II (317–340 AD).
The most important finds in the villa were two mosaics that were well preserved when they were found . In the main room of the house was an approximately 6.15 × 4.92 meter mosaic, which showed the head of Medusa in the center . Arranged around it were busts that symbolize the days of the week. Sol for Sunday, Luna for Monday, Mars for Tuesday, Mercury for Wednesday, Jupiter for Thursday and Venus for Friday. The last two busts were no longer preserved when they were found. Here you can definitely expect Saturn for Saturday. The eighth figure, on the other hand, remains speculation. A second mosaic from the villa showed two wrestlers in the middle and four busts arranged around them, the identification of which, however, is controversial. After the discovery, William Greenwood built a structure over the remains of the villa to protect the mosaics in particular. In 1873 there were attempts to salvage the mosaics in order to bring them to Winchester, since the protective structure was in the meantime used as a stable. However, the floors were no longer in good condition and were practically destroyed during this action.
literature
- David S. Neal, Stephen R. Cosh: Roman Mosaics of Britain, Volume III, South-East Britain , Part I, London 2009, ISBN 978-0-85431-289-4 , pp. 239-242.
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Coordinates: 51 ° 2 ′ 56.9 ″ N , 1 ° 6 ′ 22 ″ W.