Crofton Roman Villa

Crofton Roman Villa
Crofton Roman Villa, museum
Location within Greater London
General information
Location	Orpington grid reference TQ454658
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°22′22″N 0°05′16″E / 51.3729°N 0.0878°E / 51.3729; 0.0878Coordinates: 51°22′22″N 0°05′16″E / 51.3729°N 0.0878°E / 51.3729; 0.0878
Construction started	c. 140
Demolished	c. 400

Crofton Roman Villa in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, is a Roman villa which was inhabited between approximately 140 and 400 AD. It was the centre of a farming estate of about 500 acres (200 ha), with farm buildings nearby, surrounded by fields, meadows and woods. The house was altered several times during its 260 years of occupation, and at its largest it probably had at least 20 rooms.

The remains of ten rooms can be seen today. Two rooms contain the remains of "opus signinum" floors, and three have evidence of tiled, or "tessellated", floors. Details of an underfloor central heating hypocaust can also be seen, featuring both channelled and pillared systems, as can small finds from the site.

The villa is adjacent to Orpington railway station, and is not far from Lullingstone Roman Villa, near Eynsford, Kent.

Discovery

The site was discovered in 1926, when workmen were preparing a driveway for some new council offices, and unearthed some Roman artefacts. Preliminary archaeological investigations at the time established the existence of the villa, but the site was not fully investigated until 1988, when further work was carried out by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit (KARU). Details of their findings were published in a book in 1996.^[1] The site is protected within a modern building.

References

↑ Brian Philp: The Roman villa site at Orpington, Kent. Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover 1996, ISBN 0-947831-13-4.

External links

Media related to Crofton Roman Villa at Wikimedia Commons

Villas in Roman Britain

Bancroft Beadlam Bignor Borough Hill Brading Chedworth Crofton Fishbourne Folkestone Gadebridge Park Great Witcombe Kings Weston Littlecote Llantwit Major Low Ham Lullingstone Newport North Leigh Piddington Rockbourne Sparsholt Spoonley Wood Welwyn Woodchester

See also: List of Roman villas in England and List of Roman villas in Wales

Roman visitor sites in the UK

Villas	Bignor Brading Chedworth Crofton Dover Painted House Fishbourne Great Witcombe Littlecote Lullingstone Newport Piddington Rockbourne Sparsholt Wroxeter

Forts & military	Arbeia Binchester Birdoswald Burgh Castle Caerleon Chesters Derventio Dover Castle Eboracum Housesteads Lunt Carvoran Roman Army Museum Pevensey Castle Portchester Castle Ribchester Richborough Segedunum Venta Icenorum Vindolanda

Towns	Aldborough Roman Site Colchester Corbridge Silchester Venta Icenorum St Albans Wroxeter

Museums	Canterbury Roman Museum Carvoran Roman Army Museum Colchester Castle Museum Corinium Museum Jewry Wall Museum Ribchester Senhouse Roman Museum Trimontium Trust (Melrose) Verulamium Museum

Other sites	Bath Roman Baths Caerleon Roman Baths Jewry Wall, Leicester Welwyn Roman Baths York Roman Baths

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