Villa rustica (Greetwell)

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The Villa Rustica of Greetwell was a Roman estate ( Villa rustica ) at Greetwell (but not within the boundaries of the municipality), next to Lincoln in the county of Lincolnshire , in eastern England .

In ancient times, the villa was about 2.5 kilometers east of Lindum Colonia , later Lincoln. The city had been the capital of the newly established province of Flavia Caesariensis since the end of the third century AD .

The villa was discovered during iron mining in 1884. Benjamin Ramsden, head of iron mining, was interested in the ruins of the villa and drew the most important finds and especially a large part of the mosaics . His records are now in the Lincoln Museum . However, many rooms without mosaics were not excavated, so that only an incomplete plan of the villa has come down to us. Ramsden complained that the people of Lincoln showed little interest in the remains. None of the mosaics was lifted and the remains of the whole villa were therefore victims of iron mining in the following years.

According to the records, the villa had an 86-meter long portico that was decorated with simple mosaics. At the western end of it was a bathroom, the rooms of which also had mosaics. The villa had two further wings, which perhaps enclosed a courtyard to the north and had porticos. Both porticos were again decorated with mosaics.

Overall, the villa's mosaics took up an area of ​​at least 745 square meters. After the Fishbourne Roman Palace (about 1,300 square meters of mosaic area) this is the largest area of ​​mosaics in Roman Britain . The villa was therefore obviously no “ordinary” villa. Perhaps a high official in the administration of the province of Flavia Caesariensis resided here . The coin finds indicate that the villa had been in operation since the first century AD. There are hardly any coins from the second half of the third century, while numerous coins date to the first half of the fourth century. The mosaics probably also date from this period.

literature

  • David S. Neal, Stephen R. Cosh: Roman Mosaics of Britain. Volume I: Northern Britain, incorporating the Midlands and East Anglia. The Society of Antiquaries of London, London 2002, ISBN 0-953-78452-5 , pp. 175-183.

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Coordinates: 53 ° 14 '8.1 "  N , 0 ° 30' 42.2"  W.