Borough Hill Roman villa

The excavations

Botfield’s excavations revealed a large range of rooms which ran from north to south, part of which was a bath suite. It was deduced that the buildings were built over a period of time and that the northern rooms are later additions. The earliest parts of the villa were built in the early years of the Roman occupation. The villa consisted of a single storey and was constructed from the local marlstone (sandstone), infilled with rubble. The inside walls were plastered, as may have been the exterior, although this is not certain. The building had a tiled roof, examples of which can be seen in Northampton Museum. Some specimens of frescoed plaster were found still clinging to the remains of interior walls. It was also discovered that the villa had an elaborate heating system installed under the building. Hot air from a furnace or hypocaust flowed through the building by means of flues. Some of the floors were supported upon brick or flat stone piers which supported the floor leaving a two to three foot gap in which the air flowed. Botfield also discovered a well south-west of the villa. The well was stone lined and in the upper levels of the well a skeleton was found, with bronze accoutrements as well as an iron fibula (a brooch) and hook.