Roman villas in the North of England

Abstract

The physical area covered by this thesis consists of the ten northern counties of England ; although villa sites have only been discovered in four of them, a calculation has been made of areas in Lancashire and Cheshire where a search might prove rewarding. For the purpose of this study the sites have been divided into eleven groups. This is based on physical distribution and has no archaeological significance. A synopsis of each villa or site is given, based on the original excavation report, followed where appropriate by a criticism or re-appraisal. A further section is devoted to a discussion based on the findings from all the sites including distribution, mosaics, large circular buildings, economy, 'fortified’ villas, post-Roman occupation and recommendations for further study. At the end is a tabular analysis giving the sites with map references, heights above mean sea level, period of occupation, incidence of mosaic pavements, and post-Roman activity. A second volume contains plans of the villas, where available, together with illustrations of some of the mosaics.