A hot day, good for ice creams and sun loungers not for mattocking and shoveling the clay and building debris filling the cold plunge pool. Definite need for a time machine to use it properly.
The stone and tile structure in trench A
Excitement up in trench B Room 24. Rob has cleared round a pile of rubble and revealed a small structure built against the wall with a central setting of limestone and edged with clay tiles. Some feature within the bath house. Not sure what yet. All may be revealed at a lower level. Rob then found a coin and beside it part of a bone pin. If that wasn’t enough he soon found a second coin and both dated to the 4th century (precise emperors and dates to follow). We have only found two other coins since starting work at the villa in 2010 and none from a good archaeological context until today.
Rob’s second coin has the scale against it. Find spots for the first coin and the bone pin are marked by labels top left.
Marie and Lois came to help today and excavated in the apse of Room 24.
Marie and Lois took off the last archaeological layer in E to reveal the underlying limestone and clay geology which the wall sits on.
Nancy has found a hardstanding remnant for a 2nd century wall below the clay
Nancy removing clay to reveal the 2nd century robbed wall footing in D. Fay is revealing more early walls under Sir Ian Richmond’s 1963 concrete.
and Fay has revealed more of the early villa in trench D below Richmond’s concrete. Interesting to see now that one hypocaust flue was blocked and replaced by another about 1800 years ago. We’re getting a much better understanding of what lies beneath Sir Ian’s 1963 concrete.
Fay’s 2nd century walls in D. The wall in the centre blocks and replaces a hypocaust flue. The flue walls burnt red with the heat.
Back in the 4th century baths changing room, Room 24, Alice found some painted plaster against the wall in trench C and this is similar to some found by Rob along the wall to the north in B. It would be quite something to find an intact decorated wall at a lower level…
At the end of the day Lois dug a bit more of trench A and found large blocks of structural stone beneath the sand.
Lois transferred to Luke’s trench A at the end of the day and began to reveal some structural stone along its northern edge.. not sure what this is yet.
Archaeology National Trust SW 