Lullingstone Villa
 Roman Britain |
Although the fact that a Roman building had once stood in this spot in Kent has been known from the 18th century onward, it was not until 1949 that a systematic excavation began to fully reveal this outstanding villa-site. Complete excavation of Lullingstone Villa took another 12 years, and with the addition of a newly constructed building to preserve the site, it was finally opened to the public in 1963.
The first stone house, incorporating a simple range of rooms, was built towards the close of the 1st century AD. During the latter part of the following century a new owner added a bathing suite to one end of the villa and a series of cult-rooms to the other; the expensive ornamentation displayed a man of wealth and taste.
New owners again arrived in the last quarter of the 3rd century - now the cult rooms were built-over, the baths refurbished and a large granary erected. This "updating" procedure, incorporating many improvements, is typical of buildings that survive several centuries. Mosaic floors were laid in the mid 4th century in the new dining room and the main living room. Between 360-70 the owner became a Christian and converted part of the villa to Christian usages, filling-in the baths and dismantling the granary. Finally, in the early 5th century, a fire destroyed Lullingstone villa and no further signs of occupation are found after AD420, about 13 years after the legions departed Britain.
The principal features that remain in the memory of most visitors are the splendid mosaic floors, most especially the one that graces the dining room. Here, the main scene depicts the "Rape of Europa" by Jupiter in the guise of a bull, accompanied by a Latin verse-couplet referring to a passage in Virgil's Aeneid. The mosaic in the principal room displays the hero Bellerophon astride the winged horse Pegasus, killing the Chimaera, a beast with lion's head and serpent?s tail.
A sizable complex, Lullingstone villa contained some 26 rooms, while standing to one side of the main building are further rooms containing a small circular shrine, mausoleum, kitchen and granary. Showcases at Lullingstone provide a selection of the many finds from the site, best perhaps being a complete set of gaming-pieces from the burial-possessions of a young couple discovered in the mausoleum.