Star Roman Villa, Shipham, Somerset
30 STAR ROMAN VILLA, SHIPHAM, SOMERSET
Star Roman Villa, Shipham, Somerset'"
A SUMMARY OF THE FIRST SEASON'S WORKt By KENNETH JAMES BARTON The Roman Villa at Star in the parish of Shipham, Somerset (NGR 435589), lies on the 2so-ft. contour at the head of a westward-facing valley of the northern branch of the Mendip Hills. It is sheltered from the north by the slopes of these hills (which rise to 400 ft. above it) and it is watered by springs which rise within a hundred feet of the buildings. Economically the villa belongs to a complex of eight or more villas that lie in the seaward leading valleys of west Mendip. These villas were probably responsible for supplying food to the lead-mining settlement at Charterhouse. The area occupied by the buildings appears to extend over 2! acres. Trial trenching has shown that extensive occupation occurs within this area. The remains appear as, (a) a plateau 100 ft. square, (b) a mound ISO ft. by 30 ft., and (c) the footings of two rooms revealed in a drainage ditch. The presence of Roman buildings in this field has been known for some time; some excavation was done in 1823, but no report was made on the results. Excavation of the plateau was undertaken to determine the sequence of events that took place during the occupation of this area. These events can be said to fall into five groups: (I) A pre-villa occupation, (2) A major building of late 1st century A.D. construction, (3) A replacement of that building by a smaller one at the end of the 2nd century, (4) A reconstruction of this building c. A.D. 320, (5) A temporary re-use and subsequent demoli tion of this building following its destruction by fire c. A.D. 355. The pre-villa occupation was indicated by a scatter of sherds of late Belgic forms, and food bones associated with a hearth, underlying a 3-ft. thick layer of red clay into which were built the footings of the first villa. Only the footings of this building remained; all the rest had been removed to make way for the second building. A clay seal that covered the footings of the first building contained Samian and mortar fragments which suggest a date of c. A.D. 190 for the rebuilding. • This excavation was carried out by the Axbridge Caving Club and Archaeological Society, who are indebted to the President and Committee of the U.D.S.S. for publishing this note. t The theories herein offered are tentative and liable to alteration as excavation proceeds. STAR ROMAN VILLA, SHlPHAM, SOMERSET 31
~ 0 ~ .. ;:~ 1-,3 O 1-3 ~ I.-' I.-'~ Cl Z z.. ~ 1 (5 0 .. J Ci_&.... ::! .., 5 :> :> ID ID ID ~~rri ~~~ 32 STAR ROMAN VILLA, SHIPIIAM, SOMERSET This building was narrower than the first, and the area investigated comprised two rooms at the end of a wing. A covered corridor ran along the outside of the south-east wall. This building still stands to a height of 4 ft. (Pldte I, A). This second building had two phases of construction. The first was a large room (Room I) at the southern end of the building joined by an internal corridor to other parts of the building; this corridor by-passed a small room (Room 2) with decorated wall plaster. The external corridor of this phase was of timber construction supported on a stone packing. To the east of this building was a laid stone yard. By c. A.D. 320 the southern wall of the villa had fallen into such a poor state of repair that it had to be completely removed down to the footings, and Room I was shortened by the insertion of a wall to replace the demolished structure. At this time a complete internal rebuild took place. The corridor by-passing Room 2 was taken out and that room widened and a fine fireplace (Plate I, B) inserted into the east wall. The external porch was also rebuilt with a low stone wall i the stone sleeper footings were sealed in red clay and a drain was constructed down the middle of the corridor, running under a plank floor. Circa A.D. 355 the building was gutted by fire, after which Room I was cleared and a corn-drying kiln inserted into the floor. Burnt grain was found in several pits in this floor. The entrance to Room 2 was blocked and the ashes covered with stone roof tiles; this room was probably used for keeping animals penned. At least within a year of its destruction by fire the building was carefully demolished, and the site levelled off, probably in preparation for a rebuilding that never took place. '\ A
B (Photographs: J. Hancock) PLATE lA and B A, Room 2 showing three phases of construction. B, Room 2 showing detail of fireplace.