Monument record MDO2344 - Lenthay Roman villa, Lenthay Common, Sherborne

A Roman tesselated pavement was found at Lenthay Common during 1836. It was removed and relaid in the dairy of Sherborne Castle. The outlines of walls have subsequently been observed on aerial photographs but excavation has failed to locate them. It is suggested that the villa lay largely across the line of the railway and was seriously damaged by its construction.

[ST 62451529] Roman Tesselated pavement found AD 1836 [TI] (5)

Pavement originally 13' square - chequered border enclosing an interlaced quilloche 8-pointed star framing a scene of Apollo and Marsyas. Centre portion now reset in dairy floor of Sherborne Castle [now a museum]. (9)

As above, presumed villa (a) (b) ©. Described in a note on the back of a drawing in Dorset County Museum as "a floor belonging to a Roman bath". Cropmarks observed by C.E. Bean (d) gave support to OS siting, but in 1951, when H. Greenwood cut trial trenches, all the ground S. of the railway was found to be disturbed & yielded only pottery & poss. Fragments of a stone mortar. "In the garden of the railway cottage immediately NW of the level crossing [cottage shown at ST 62411528], Mr Greenwood was shown some walling a few inches below the surface which proved to be faced with dressed blocks of about 8" x 10" x 10". It was impossible to follow this as it lay under the garden, & trial holes on the N. side of the garden did not encounter further walls. These discoveries, & the lie of the ground, led Mr Greenwood to suppose that the site of the villa lies across the rly & at an angle to it. If so it may have been damaged by the railway which was opened in June, 1860" €. (8)

Lenthay Roman Villa - (N.G. Ref. ST 62371530) "Traces of the robbed east walls of this villa showed in ripening corn to the east of the level crossing running up to the railway fence." (7)

The railway verge and adjoining field are grass covered, at the position shown by the O.S. siting symbol with no surface indications of a building. A small trial trench was dug in a N-S direction for approximately 4.0m. Running S. from the position of the O.S. siting symbol. Much disturbed ground and loose stone was encountered, and at the S. end of the trench some apparently collapsed stone walling was found. This was 0.5m. Wide and 0.3m. Beneath the surface, and seemed to extend in an E-W direction. Other finds from this trench consisted of fragments of gritty black ware, and red-brown ware, and a piece of combed tile. All the above finds support the O.S. symbol. The site of the small excavation made in the cottage garden N. of the railway (T.3) was pointed out by the tenant of the cottage, and was at ST 62401527 'A'. The small area, 3.0m. X 2.0m. Was partly reopened during field investigation. No evidence of Ro. Occupation was found, but large stones intermixed with modern debris to a depth of 1.0m., below which was undisturbed silt and sand. The cottage is stone built, and the stones, of irregular size are perhaps foundation rubble. (10)

DO 27 Listed as the site of a Roman villa. (13)

<1> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1845, The Archaeological Journal 2, 85-6 (Serial). SDO17998.

<2> British Archaeological Association, 1846, Journal of the British Archaeological Association, 57 (Serial). SDO16508.

<3> Royal Archaeological Institute, 1865, The Archaeological Journal 22, 360-1 (Serial). SDO17999.

<4> Warne, C, 1865, Dorsetshire: it’s Celtic, Roman, Saxon & Danish vestiges (Monograph). SDO10243.

<5> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1930 (Map). SWX1540.

[ST 62451529] Roman Tesselated pavement found AD 1836 [TI]

<6> Anon, 1933, The Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 81 (Article in serial). SDO10117.

<7> Bean, C E, 1950, Archaeological discoveries in Sherborne and District; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 79 (Article in serial). SDO10284.

<8> Farrar, R A H, 1951, A trial excavation at the site of the Roman villa, Lenthay Common, Sherborne; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, p.111-2 (Article in serial). SDO10305.

<9> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West), p. 199-200, plate 127 (Monograph). SDO97.

‘(2) Pavement (Plate 127) found at Lenthay Green, immediately S. of the railway and over 1 m. S.W. of the church, in 1836. It has opposite borders plain and chequered respectively, enclosing an eight-pointed star of interlaced guilloche squares. Within this frame a large naked Apollo sits playing the lyre while Marsyas prances before him, blowing on the double flute. This crude yet lively provincial version of a classical myth is now reset in the dairy floor at Sherborne Castle (Castleton); it is only the centre portion of the pavement which was originally some 13 ft. square. (B.A.A. Journ., I, p. 57; C. Warne, Dorsetshire, Vestiges I.).’

<10> Quinnell, N V, Various, Field Investigators Comments NVQ, F1 NVQ 11-JUL-55 (Unpublished document). SDO11903.

<11> Keen, L J, 1976, Sherborne; Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 60 (Article in serial). SDO10320.

‘(ST 6215). Redug field ditches in the field north of the Lenthay Roman villa were examined by several persons. Fourth-century pottery, large lumps of op. sig. and a coin of the house of Constantine were found.’

<12> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1978, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1976, 60 (Serial). SDO76.

<13> Scott, E, 1993, A Gazetteer of Roman villas in Britain, 54 (Bibliographic reference). SWX1795.

<14> Historic England, Historic England Archive, RCH01/088 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME Inventory: Dorset I (West) and Revision. A collection of archive relating to the Dorset inventory Volume I (West Dorset) and to a proposed revision which was never published. The archive consists of a wide range of material including original field notes, surveys, profiles, photographs and negatives, measured drawings, and correspondence.

<15> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC72/01453 (Index). SDO14738.

MOSAIC DEPICTING APOLLO AND MARSYAS DISCOVERED IN 1836 NOW IN SHERBORNE CASTLE (CASTLETON PARISH)

<16> National Record of the Historic Environment, 199497 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Nov 25 2022 2:30PM