Monument record MDO4946 - Roman Villa at Barton Field, Tarrant Hinton

Excavations in 1845 revealed a Roman settlement including a villa north west of Barton Hill overlooking the Tarrant. This was part of a multi-period site with remains of a possible Bronze Age cemetery, Iron Age and Romano British settlement and a Roman Villa. A Romanised settlement including a bath house and various other buildings dates to the 2nd and 3rd centuries. This may have been replaced or converted into a 4th century AD courtyard Roman Villa. The last datable evidence is a coin from the House of Theodosius which provides a post 388 date to the villa and occupation may have continued until the end of the 4th century. There is little evidence to explain the transformation of the late Iron Age site into a Roman settlement in the 2nd century AD. However, it seems likely from the remains found that the Iron Age site continued and a slow metamorphosis into a Romanised settlement occurred in the 2nd and 3rd centuries. This is indicated by the presence of various Roman structures and a bath house. In the 4th century a courtyard villa was constructed with three ranges of residential and working areas. Remains of rich wall paintings, mosaics and other decorative elements have been found. The final phase of the courtyard building dates to the mid-4th century and the site may have been occupied until the end of the Roman period. The site was first excavated in 1845 and extensively excavated between 1968 and 1984 by the Wimborne Archaeological Group. Many of the finds are on display in the Museum of East Dorset, Wimborne.

It is suggested that this is the site of the "Anicetis" recorded in the Ravenna Cosmography, as being the eponymous property of Anicetis. <2> Roman settlement (926119), including a villa, lies NW of Barton Hill Dairy on a site overlooking the Tarrant, on the south and east slopes of a chalk spur between 300 ft and 360 ft above sea-level. Excavations in 1845 revealed 'extensive remains of foundations, and walls with stucco and coloured facings, extending over an area of nearly twenty acres'. On the north side of the field, 'at some distance from the spot where the principal remains of foundations were discovered', two rooms about 5 1/2 ft square flanked a narrow corridor; their floors were variously described as paved with red and white tesserae arranged in parallel rows, or as stuccoed. The walls, of flint and greensand 3 ft thick, were plastered internally and were painted with 'ribbon-work, arches, foliage etc.'. A well 30 ft deep contained the base and part of the shaft of a large column 'of a classic character and resembling the Ionic'. Finds included flue and roofing tiles, tesserae, samian and coarse pottery, amphorae, circular pipes (presumably of earthenware), querns, bronze brooches, shale rings, and coins of Constantine and Constantius. Some of these finds, and also fragments of mosaic with guilloche, angular and curved patterns in red, white and two shades of grey, are in the Dorset County Museum; other finds are in the British Museum. It has been suggested that the site is the "Anicetis" mentioned in the Ravenna Cosmography. Limited test excavations in 1968 and 1969 tended to confirm the 19th-century accounts, yielding evidence of flint walls, generally 2 ft thick, over a wide area. Two plain tessellated pavements, severely damaged by ploughing, and much decorated wall plaster also came to light. Nearly 50 coins were found, ranging from Lusius Verus to Valentinian, but chiefly of the 3rd and 4th centuries. <1> <6> Excavations from 1970 to 1973 revealed four 4th century buildings partly used for working and storage. Several Iron Age pits were found, with some Iron Age 'B' pottery, and four graves with fragmented beakers suggested the existence of a Bronze Age cemetery. In 1974-6 a new site to the NE was excavated, revealing four 2nd and 3rd century buildings, one of which was a bath-house. There was also a walled enclosure with four possible furnaces or kilns. Beneath these buildings were an Iron Age roundhouse 15m in diameter and a large number of Iron Age pits. Finds, including pottery and a fine La Tene bow brooch, suggest a substantial settlement with occupation from an Iron Age 'A' phase through to the 1st century AD. <4-11> Excavated between 1977 and 1983, the four 4th century buildings arranged around the courtyard were preceded by 3 earlier buildings. The whole complex overlay an extensive Iron Age settlement. <12-20> Further building debris was located at ST 930120 when cutting a gas pipeline. <22> DO 29 Listed as the possible site of a Roman villa. <24> This source is a report on the excavations at Barton Field, Tarrant Hinton (Dorset) and includes detailed information on the various periods of settlement occupation as well descriptions of the finds including coins, pottery and structural materials. Five periods of occupation of the site are described in this source: the first phase is the Bronze Age occupation (late 3rd to early 2nd millennium); the second is the Iron Age settlement (6th century BC to 1st century AD); the third is the Iron Age to Romano-British transition (1st century AD); the fourth is the Romano-British settlement (2nd and 3rd centuries) and the fifth is the 4th century courtyard villa. Little information is provided for the end of the Roman villa as the site has been damaged by 19th century excavations and ploughing. In the summary a date of the early 5th century AD is provided but the latest datable evidence is a coin from the House of Theodosius which provides a post 388 date to the villa and the source adds that occupation may have continued until the last quarter of the 4th century. For a detailed description of the site please refer to the source. <25>

Record last edited

Feb 16 2023 10:54AM