Bignor Roman Villa
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Bignor Roman Villa was a large Roman courtyard villa which has been excavated and put on public display on the Bignor estate in the English county of West Sussex.
The villa was discovered in 1811 by George Tupper, a local farmer. It was almost entirely excavated by local man, John Hawkins, and the antiquary, Samuel Lysons. There have been further excavations since 1925.
It started as a simple timber farm structure around in 190. A four-roomed stone building was built in the 3rd century. This became a western wing, when north and south wings and later an est wing were added. In its final form, the villa, surrounding a courtyard, consisted of some sixty-five rooms, and had a number of outlying farm buildings.
The rooms on display today are mostly located at the west end of the north wing, including a summer and winter (underfloor heated) dining room. The bathhouse is to the south-east. The rooms contain some of the best Roman mosaics to be found anywhere in Britain, both in terms of preservation and artistic merit and detailing. The Greek-key-patterned northern corridor extends for some 79ft (24m).
