09-19-2011, 03:27 PM
As I said in my previous post this is not my area of expertise but whilst there is evidence of decline on some sites there is contrary evidence of continued growth on others during various phases of the 4th C; it would appear that even the experts have differing opinions on the timeframes and causes.
There are a large number of villa sites around West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Fishbourne was built somewhere around 94AD and flourished only to decline sharply following a catastrophic fire that appears to have started during renovation work in the 270s. Rockbourne would appear to have survived longer with part of the north wing being rebuilt in the early to mid 4th C when the associated bathhouse was remodelled then somewhere around the mid 4th C the bath suite in the western range was enlarged and the bathhouse in the north wing taken out of use. Brading on the IoW was apparently subject to a disastrous fire sometime in the late 3rd C but continued to be used for farming for, the experts tell us, another 100 years or so. During this time a stoke hole was dug through a mosaic in one of the corridors in the main house for a corn dryer. Newport on the IoW was built somewhere around 280 but I have no idea when it went out of use. Bignor itself was originally constructed around the mid 3rd C and consisted of a stone building with 4 rooms; it was extended in stages and in its final form consisted of 65 rooms around a central courtyard. The last phase in the mid to late 4th C added to the north wing where some of the finest mosaics are located and appears to have then had a slow decline and did not experience the same kind of ‘catastrophe’ that befell either Fishbourne or Brading.
We have the site at Dunkirt Barn, Abbots Ann originally dug in 1854 and then looked at again in 2005, the site at Liss excavated in 2006, the site at Warblington excavated between 2008 and 2010 as well as the entire gable end from a stone barn associated in a villa at Soberton that is now in the BM and for none of these sites do we have published dig reports let-alone any real interpretation of their context and chronology.
Is the demise of these villas due to ‘accidents’ such as the fires at Brading and Fishbourne, the result of economic stress as the ‘empire’ turns in on itself or do they fall victim to the bogey-man that is the ‘barbarian’ raids by ‘Saxon pirates’?
There are others on this forum who are hopefully better placed than I to provide some of the answers but I personally feel we should beware making ‘one size fit all’.
There are a large number of villa sites around West Sussex, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Fishbourne was built somewhere around 94AD and flourished only to decline sharply following a catastrophic fire that appears to have started during renovation work in the 270s. Rockbourne would appear to have survived longer with part of the north wing being rebuilt in the early to mid 4th C when the associated bathhouse was remodelled then somewhere around the mid 4th C the bath suite in the western range was enlarged and the bathhouse in the north wing taken out of use. Brading on the IoW was apparently subject to a disastrous fire sometime in the late 3rd C but continued to be used for farming for, the experts tell us, another 100 years or so. During this time a stoke hole was dug through a mosaic in one of the corridors in the main house for a corn dryer. Newport on the IoW was built somewhere around 280 but I have no idea when it went out of use. Bignor itself was originally constructed around the mid 3rd C and consisted of a stone building with 4 rooms; it was extended in stages and in its final form consisted of 65 rooms around a central courtyard. The last phase in the mid to late 4th C added to the north wing where some of the finest mosaics are located and appears to have then had a slow decline and did not experience the same kind of ‘catastrophe’ that befell either Fishbourne or Brading.
We have the site at Dunkirt Barn, Abbots Ann originally dug in 1854 and then looked at again in 2005, the site at Liss excavated in 2006, the site at Warblington excavated between 2008 and 2010 as well as the entire gable end from a stone barn associated in a villa at Soberton that is now in the BM and for none of these sites do we have published dig reports let-alone any real interpretation of their context and chronology.
Is the demise of these villas due to ‘accidents’ such as the fires at Brading and Fishbourne, the result of economic stress as the ‘empire’ turns in on itself or do they fall victim to the bogey-man that is the ‘barbarian’ raids by ‘Saxon pirates’?
There are others on this forum who are hopefully better placed than I to provide some of the answers but I personally feel we should beware making ‘one size fit all’.
Wihtgar - Wayne
