Piddington Roman Villa

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Piddington Roman Villa is the remains of a large Roman villa at Piddington, Northamptonshire, 6 miles south-east of Northampton. It is found on the site of an earlier late Iron Age settlement.

The full address is: Chapel End, Piddington, Northamptonshire. NN7 2DD

[edit] History

The site was occupied from about 50 BC, with circular buildings followed be a proto-villa of c AD 70 then a sequence of rectangular stone-built structures, culminating in a simple cottage type villa. From the 2nd century this became an increasingly large winged-corridor-type villa with courtyard (indeed, a 2nd century well on the site is probably the largest stone-lined well in Roman Britain and has produced a wealth of environmental and other evidence). It also had 2 bath-houses, possibly one used by the estate workers and one, smaller one for the villa-owners at one end of the main range of villa buildings.

At the end of the 3rd century - earlier than most other Romano-British villas - it apparently abruptly became unoccupied and much of it was deliberately dismantled, with "squatter"-type 'family-units' occupation taking over from the 300s until at least until the end of the 4th century. There is also evidence for early Anglo Saxon activity, including at least three burials and a possible dwelling.

[edit] Excavation

Excavation on the site has been conducted by the Upper Nene Archaeological Society on a part time basis since 1979. This is a long-term rescue excavation, since parts of the site are close to the surface and thus plough damage of the area, currently minimised in the short-term via the local farmer's kind co-operation. Excavation is carried out on Sundays throughout the year, a week at Easter, three weeks in August and a further week in September.

[edit] Site museum

At the site there is museum in a converted and deconsecrated local chapel, manned by volunteers at weekends. It consists of archaeological material and includes displays interpreting 500 years of life at the settlement, including:

  • A detailed model of the villa, as in the later 2nd century.
  • A full-sized mannequin of a fictional owner of the villa called Tiberius Claudius Severus, with an audio presentation.
  • A full-scale reconstruction of sections of a typical roof and hypocaust.

In 2006, the museum and excavations won the Council for British Archaeology's "Mick Aston Award for best presentation of an archaeological project or theme to the public".

The villa and museum also have a friends’ organisation - the directors being Liz and Roy Friendship-Taylor.

[edit] Sources

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Villas of Roman Britain