Roman villa at Further and Hither Brixted Field (EHER 1588)

Excavations in 1931-1932 uncovered a Roman building, possibly a corridor villa. It was occupied from the mid 2nd century AD.

Original HER entry merged with NRHE data import: 1931-1932. Excavation. J.G. Covernton excavated an oblong in the middle of the north part of the field here. Fragmentary foundations at average depth of 1-1.5ft, nowhere below 3ft. Was thought to have been "a farm house rather than a villa", possibly of corridor type. Usual Roman building materials, also fragments of maroon, orange, cream and pink wall plaster. Hypocaust floor and box flue tiles found. All the pottery was broken. It consisted mostly of coarse wares but fragments of plain and decorated Samian and some Castor ware was also found. The latter was dated by Hawkes to 2nd-3rd century, the Samian wares were mainly 2nd-3rd century, most of the rest of the pottery was 3rd-4th century. Various iron objects were found, part of a Kimmeridge shale bangle, 6 coins-1 of Constantine the Great, 1 of Constantius, 2 of the Constantinian house, 2 unidentified. The building seemed to be about 67' east-west x 47' and "in general character it bore a strong family resemblance to other Romano-British 'villas' situate about the borders of north-west Essex and Cambridgeshire, more particularly to those at Hadstock, Ickleton and Chesterford but it was identical with none of them. In type it favoured the corridor class", with projections and perhaps annexes distinct from the main block. Finds also included window glass, 2 iron chisels, an iron stylus and an ox bone 'skewer' or dagger, incised DI or DF. "Finds in the Old Yeldhouse, Finchingfield". 1950-find of a "plentiful scatter of Roman building material"-tegulae, bricks, box flue tile, tesserae, large flints, pottery, including Samian. The bulk of it seemed to be concentrated in the area at TL 668338 but various pieces of building material and odd sherds were scattered all over the field. <1> - <7> The name 'Brixted', traced back to the 16th century, may be derived from an abundance of Roman building material. Two fields-Hither and Further Brixted-the main Roman site was in the centre of the latter (TL 66853385), extending beyond the limits of Hither Brixted. In the 1931-1932 excavations shallow hypocaust pits were found in black patches. They were "built up with tiles and tiled flues attached", filled with charcoal, ash, pottery, oyster shells, bones. Wall foundations were discovered but a "detailed plan was very difficult to recover". Wall foundations were slight, being "mere plinths supporting structures of timber, lath and plaster (on daub) with a tiled roof". Material -flints, septaria, stones, clunch or hard chalk, broken tiles, bricks "a few slabs of real Roman cement". A central main room had a red cement floor, plastered walls, painted maroon, orange, cream, pink with bars or stripes of black, white, brown. "One fragment seems to show flowing drapery". Window-glass found near the walls. North wall curved but shown flatter than an apse. The excavator referred to a corridor on the south side but showed it as very narrow on his sketch plan. Ash pit and hypocaust marked on the west wall of the central room and another on the north west angle. To the south west-2 more rooms, 1 floored in broken tile, mortar, stones, other in flint cobbles and provided with a flimsy drain passing through the outer wall. Opposite hypocaust another broken tile floor to the south as if the house had a wing here. Four masonry blocks represented the house's west wall. Discoloured subsoil suggested baths, tile and tesserae were noted with "a course of tiled flue" 5ft long, blocked deliberately at the north end by a large tile. Narrow space to the east of the central room thought to be a passage or stairs. Floor of the east wing of tiles on the west and red cement and flints in the middle. At the south east corner another stoke hole with flue running "into the corridor". This wing produced much iron scrap- nails, bars, hooks, broken implements and metallic slag. North wall difficult to trace, a broken tile and flint floor, about 7ft wide, thought to indicate another timber annexe. Noteworthy finds: T-brooch (Collingwood type 25), nest of oval pellets of baked clay (sling bolts?), of 6 coins-3 were Constantinian, 1 of Constantinopolis, 1 of the late Empire, other was illegible. From coins and pottery occupation dated from the mid 2nd century onwards. "The owner was presumably a farmer-blacksmith". <8> Site TL63-039 has Roman sheets with similar finds to those already referred to. Presumably mistakenly sited. Finds included quern of Herts conglomerate. <9> <10> May 1975. Field visit. There is no trace on the ground of Roman building material or other finds at the site indicated by <7>; the area is partly ploughed and partly under crop. No local information was forthcoming. Covernton moved away many years ago and is believed dead. A small amount of uncatalogued Roman material from the excavation is still held at the Yeld House or Guildhall museum. Some is believed locally to be in Colchester Museum, and some in a personal collection, present whereabouts unknown, of Covernton. The quality of finds described and seen suggests a Roman building of some importance, but Covernton's plan, see illustration, is too vague for classification as a villa. <11> See also: <12> - <16>