Monument record MDO3821 - Roman villa, Dark Lane, Fifehead Neville

Excavations uncovered the site of a Roman winged corridor villa. A hoard of jewellery, some marked with Christian symbols, was also found.

Two plans exist, both drawn in 1904 but differing in details and measurements. One, by Miss M. E. Hartley, is preserved in the Dorset County Museum; the other, made for Messrs Rawlence and Squarcy probably by J. E. Batchelor, is in the Digby Estate Office at Sherborne. The latter forms the basis of the accompanying plan. There are also two drawings of the best preserved mosaic, by Miss Hartley and by C.H. Goater, both in D.C.M.; the former is used for Plate 133, since a note by J. E. Acland and photographs suggest that it is the more accurate of the two. <2> There are no surface remains or air photograph markings to indicate the position of this former Roman Villa. The published O.S. siting <1>. is to the base of a gentle south west facing slope, in permanent meadowland. Three sherds of abraded coarse Romano-British red ware, and a fragment of an ? imbrex were found near a gap in the hedge bank at ST 77251117. (The site is not published on OS 25" 1900-01). <3> DO 13 Listed as the site of a Roman villa. The winged corridor house is associated with a complex of substantial masonry buildings. The house is also combined with an oblong block of rooms set at right angles to it, producing a L-shaped dwelling. <4>

Record last edited

Feb 21 2022 12:49PM