Low Ham

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Low Ham (grid reference ST440290) is a 5 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset, notified in 1988. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.

Contents

[edit] Geology

This site contains a Pleistocene sedimentary sequence of sands, silts and peats, laid down in the Early Devensian. The site forms a rare example of deposits of ’interstadial’ facies associated with a high sea level; these are of critical importance for British Pleistocene geology.[1]

[edit] Roman Villa

Low Ham is also the site of a Roman Villa which contained a mosaic which was found in 1946 during excavations. Dating to the mid 4th century AD, it lay in the bath block and formed the approach to the cold plunge bath. The Low Ham mosaic is unique in Roman Britain in that the five panels provide a narrative. In fact it is the earliest piece of narrative art in the country. It depicts the story of Aeneas and Dido as told by the Roman poet Virgil in The Aeneid, written in the 1st century B.C. It is now in the Somerset Museum.[2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Low Ham SSSI citation sheet. English Nature. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.
  2. ^ The Low Ham Roman Mosaic. Somerset Museum. Retrieved on 2006-08-11.

[edit] External links


 
Geological Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Somerset
Summarised data for all sites (biological and geological)

Ben Knowle | Blue Anchor to Lilstock Coast | Brean Down | Brimble Pit and Cross Swallet Basins | Bruton Railway Cutting | Cheddar Complex | Cloford Quarry | Cook's Wood Quarry | Crook Peak to Shute Shelve Hill | Doulting Railway Cutting | Emborough Quarries | Glenthorne | Godminster Lane Quarry and Railway Cutting | Greylake | Ham Hill | Hobbs Quarry | Holwell Quarries | Hurcott Farm | Hurcott Lane Cutting | Lamb Leer | Langport Railway Cutting | Laycock Railway Cutting | Leighton Road Cutting | Low Ham | Maes Down | Maesbury Railway Cutting | Miller's Hill, Milborne Wick | Moon's Hill Quarry | Priddy Caves | Priddy Pools | Rodney Stoke SSSI | Sandpit Hole and Bishop's Lot | Seavington St. Mary | Shepton Montague Railway Cutting | Snowdon Hill Quarry | St. Dunstan's Well Catchment | Thrupe Lane Swallet | Vallis Vale | Viaduct Quarry | Windsor Hill Quarry | Wookey Hole | Wookey Station | Wurt Pit and Devil's Punchbowl
Neighbouring areas: Avon | Devon | Dorset | Wiltshire

Category:Roman villas in England


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