NHER 3743 (Monument record) - Gayton Thorpe Roman Villa

Gayton Thorpe Roman villa.

1906.
Roman villa discovered.

1922 to 1923. Excavation of villa.
A two block winged corridor Roman villa plan was uncovered and mosaic floors discovered.
See (S1), (S2) and (S3).

Pre 1946.
Early Saxon sherd found.

1956.
Roman sherds and stamped brick (S24) found.
See (S4), (S5), (S6) and (S7)

1957.
Iron spearhead and a bone tool (S16) found, and traces of further buildings.

1960.
Roman sherds found.

1961.
Roman bracelet and other metalwork (S17) found.

1966.
Bath house located.
See (S8).

1969.
Roman sherds found.

1973.
Roman building material found.

1976.
Parch marks plotted from aerial photographs. The layout of the villa and a possible boundary ditch and access road joining the site to the nearby Icknield Way.
See (S9).

1980.
Medieval sherds found.

1982.
Detailed fieldwork produced Roman sherds, coins, tesserae. Uncovered evidence of further buildings on the site including a detached bath house with a mosaic and tessellated floors. Pottery recovered suggests the villa was in use between AD 125 and AD 360 although fragments of Iron Age pottery recovered suggest the site was in use during this earlier period too.
See initial unpublisehd report (S10) and published article (S11).

1983.
Roman metalwork and potboilers.

Autumn 1983.
Late Iron Age double-looped strap union (S20) and a strap loop end (S21) which are part of a set, possibly part of a hoard.
Roman coins and metal (S18 and S19) finds.

Autumn 1983.
Late Iron Age pot sherd found close to possible harness fitting hoard discovered in 1983.
A. Rogerson (HES), 3 February 2012.

1984.
Roman pottery and wall plaster.

1985.
Engraved Roman sherd.

1993.
Roman tile, brick, tessera, pottery. Also Late Saxon and medieval sherds.

1993. Metal detecting.
Roman metalwork.

1994.
Roman, Late Saxon, medieval sherds.

Full details in file.
E. Rose (NLA), 28 March 1996.

Before 4 November 2005. Metal detecting.
Thirty-six Roman, one Late Saxon and two medieval coins.
Iron Age, Roman (S22), Early Saxon, Middle Saxon, Late Saxon, medieval, post medieval and undatable metal objects.
See lists in file.
A. Rogerson (NLA), 23 June 2006.

July 2005.
Scheduled monument consent granted regarding arrangements to caryy out a magetometer, resistivity and ground penetrating radar survey.
See (S12) for further details
H. White (NLA), 25 March 2009

See (S13) in file.
D. Gurney (NLA), 25 July 2006.

July 2006.
Scheduled monument consent granted concerning partial excavation through two targetted trenches.
See (S12)
H. White (NLA), 1 April 2009

2006. Excavation.
Excavation was carried out in 2006 to re-excavate and record the main mosaic, evaluate damage to the site by ploughing since 1923, and obtain evidence for phasing/remodelling of the wing-corridor building. Geophysical surveys (resistivity, magnetometry and ground penetrating radar) were carried out to look for evidence for the immediate landscape of the villa and to record other archaeological features that have not been previously noted. Ground penetrating radar survey identified a possible detached bathhouse south east of the main villa.
See website (S15) for more information, photographs and survey plots.
M. Dennis (NLA), 4 July 2007.

During the 2006 excavations, human remains were recovered from beneath the floor level of the south block of the villa. These are thought to be the remains of a full term neonate.
See report (S23) for further information.
A. Cattermole (HES), 6 September 2011.