Roman courtyard villa and bath house at Porter's Hall (EHER 1259)

Excavations in 1951-1952 have uncovered the remains of a probable Roman courtyard villa; a bathhouse was uncovered along with other building which were probably workshops. Various furnaces were uncovered with evidence for iron, bronze and lead working, a kiln was also found. A ditch with pre-Roman pottery was excavated indicating Iron Age occupation of the site.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: February 1950. Field survey Many fragments of tegulae, and sherds of coarse grey Romano-British ware visible on the surface of a field. Undoubtedly the site of a Romano-British building. Shells also found. Important Roman site - preliminary excavations show considerable remains likely to be found over an area up to 60 acres in extent. <1> <2> A scatter of tegulae Romano-British grey ware, some Samian and oyster shells found in area indicated by <1> <2>. <3> In 1950 Roman remains were reported from large field south-east of the road to Saling.0.25 miles north of the Hall. The surface, for about 50 acres, was littered with broken tile, pottery, chalk. Deep ploughing revealed a rectangular line of buildings, each about 20 x 40ft, with clay floors mixed with pieces of metal, a stoke-hole and shallow surrounding ditches. Charcoal residue abounded, a dump 10ft deep was found. All the shallow, surrounding ditches on the north-west side contain charcoal sludge. Restricted excavation, 1951-1952, found a masonry building, apparently a bathhouse, 216 yards from the west corner and 10 yards from the north side of the field. It had good foundations. The first room had a drainage channel. Pipes were 'imbrices' reversed on one another, embedded in clay and covered with roofing tiles. In the north-east corner of this room was the stoke-hole, and box flue tiles covered with red cement. A lobby connected the first to the second rooms. To the south of room 3 a room had a water system below the flint floor, using wooden pipes, whose iron rings remained. "This sounds like a cold room with douche". Six coins of the 2nd-3rd centuries were found on the floor. The bathhouse was surrounded on 3 sides by buildings forming an oblong 140 yards x 50yards, with which fragments of white marble, possibly Carrara, have been found. Workshops on the north and east sides and living quarters on the south and west enclosed the whole site. The workshops were associated with large and small furnaces represented by bowls of burnt clay. No slag was found near them-presumably metal was prepared for manufacture. Shapeless pellets of bronze lay around, with some lead. On the east side was a kiln, brick-red, 4ft 9" square with the holes of the clay flue covered with roofing tiles 1ft below level. Much glass was found nearby. "Huge deposits of soot remain". Various coins were found, 1st-4th centuries, also 22 imitations of coins of the Tetrici and of Constantine. They were identified at the British Museum- commented that this may have been the site where the copies were made. <4> - <6> "Cobbled stone floors (some patterned)" with "fire debris" between. Drainage system ran through outer wall into what had been a ditch. Pipes were of brick earth. Building debris over foundations and around, 4' thick. Some rebuilding evident, cobbled floor over debris, including a ditch. Except centre and about 4 acres on each side, living quarters, the rest was given over to smelting and workshops for the manufacture of iron and bronze goods. Rubbish pits were full of soot. Iron slag (iron hobnails), sweepings from the workshop floors, also put in. In rubbish pits it was noticed that the iron slag adhered to furnace bowls. A piece of natural iron ore weighed 5lb. Cross section made of ditches on main, outer, north side, revealing a large section of sherds of the 1st-4th centuries. The shallow ditches within the site mainly revealed broken roofing tiles. <7> April 1975. Field survey. Mr P.G. Moore indicated on the ground the site of the excavated Roman building at TL 67702446, which accords with the VCH description. There is a heavy concentration of Roman brick, tile and pottery, including Samian fragments and native grey ware. The concentrations of Roman debris decrease with distance from the building but occurs over the whole field. <8> Listed as a probable courtyard villa. <9> <10>