Monument record MDO3992 - Roman Villa with Chi Rho Monogram, Hinton St Mary

Roman villa discovered in 1963 and excavated by the British Museum in 1964 and 1965. Structures revealed include a mosaic floor bearing a figurative central panel commonly, but not incontrovertibly, believed to show a representation of Christ, depicted in front of a chi-rho monogram.

Roman villa at ST 78451602, discovered during digging of post-holes in 1963, excavated in 1963 by Peers and Dewar of Dorset County Museum and by K S Painter in 1964-5, under the supervision of Professor Ian Richmond. It proved to be a substantial villa with its main buildings ranged round three sides of a courtyard and bounded on the fourth side (the south) by a ditch. Two mosaics were discovered, one in the NW range of buildings and another in the NE range. The latter, which features a bust with the Chi-Rho symbol tentatively interpreted by Toynbee as a representation of Christ, was lifted in 1965 and re-laid in the British Museum. Finds indicate a late 3rd to 4th century date for the occupation of the villa. The mosaics are definitely 4th century, and parallels in detail with other local examples suggest the work of a single school of craftsmen. Coins range from 270 to 400 AD, and there is a complete absence of Samian pottery. An outstanding find was an iron window-grille believed to be one of the most perfect examples discovered outside Italy. <1-4>

There are no surface remains of this villa; the site has been covered over and now lies under rough pasture. <5>

Description of the Roman 'side-board' recovered during excavation. <6>

Discussion on syncretistic symbolism and the Christian Roman mosaic. <7>
Description of the mosaics. <8>Additional bibliography. <9-11>

(It is suggested that the parish boundary for Hinton St Mary may be of Romano-British or Celtic origins since the villa is sited in the centre of the parish (10,p.52)) DO 18 Villa with the famous chi-rho monogram on a mosaic pavement, the bust depicted possibly of Christ or Constantine. <12>

Discussion of the Chi-Rho mosaic as one of the House of Constantine, possibly Constantine the Great, and the implications of 4th century imperial culture. <13>

Luke, M, Hobbs, R, and Guest, P, 2021, Archaeological Evaluation of the Roman 'Villa' at Hinton St Mary. Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SDO21120.

Guest, P, Luke, M, and Hobbs, R, 2022, Archaeological Excavation of the Roman 'Villa' at Hinton St Mary, 2022. Interim Report (Unpublished document). SDO21381.

Linford, N T, Linford, P K, Clements, M, and Payne, A W, 2023, Hinton St Mary Roman Villa, Dorset: Report on Geophysical Surveys, April 2023 (Unpublished document). SDO21066.

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1964, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1963, 116-121 (Serial). SDO63.

<2> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1965, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1964, 150-154 (Serial). SDO64.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1966, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1965, 102-103 (Serial). SDO65.

<4> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1970, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume III (Central) Part 1, 111, 117 (Monograph). SDO146.

<4> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1982, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1980, 43-48 (Serial). SDO80.

<5> Barrett, G, Various, Field Investigators Comments GB, F1 GB 18-AUG-78 (Unpublished document). SDO17369.

<6> Cunliffe, B W and Fulford, M G, 1982, Corpus Signorum Imperii Romani, Great Britain, 47 (Monograph). SWX1554.

<7> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1982, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1981, 43-8 (Serial). SDO81.

<8> Cosh, S R, and Neal, D S, 2005, Roman Mosaics of Britain. Volume II South-west Britain, 87-9 (Monograph). SDO10182.

<9> Todd, M, 1978, Studies in the Romano-British villa, 119, 128-9 (Monograph). SDO17671.

<10> Pearce, S, 1978, The kingdom of Dumnonia: studies in history and tradition in south-western Britain AD 350-1150, 52, 64 (Monograph). SDO17672.

<11> Wacher, J, 1978, Roman Britain, 238 (Monograph). SDO17673.

<12> Scott, E, 1993, A Gazetteer of Roman villas in Britain, 53 (Bibliographic reference). SWX1795.

<13> Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies, 2008, Britannia: a journal of Romano-British and kindred studies 39, 193-218 (Serial). SDO17674.

<14> Painter, K S, 1976, The design of the Roman mosaic at Hinton St Mary [Dorset] (Article in serial). SWX722.

<15> Payne, A W, 1996, Report on Geophysical Survey, July 1996, Hinton St Mary, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO14283.

<16> Historic England, Historic England Archive, 881792 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME. Hinton St Mary Roman Villa, Dorset: Bibliographic References : 1) Pt 1, Monument (20).

<17> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05264 (Index). SDO14738.

CLOSE-UP OF C4 MOSAIC SHOWING IN DETAIL THE BUST OF CHRIST THE TWO POMEGRANATES ARE SYMBOLS OF ETERNAL LIFE

<18> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05358 (Index). SDO14738.

CHRIST MOSAIC - WESTERN HUNTING SCENE

<19> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05359 (Index). SDO14738.

C4 MOSAIC DEPICTING CHRIST

<20> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05360 (Index). SDO14738.

C4 MOSAIC DEPICTING BELLEROPHON

<21> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05361 (Index). SDO14738.

C4 MOSAIC DEPICTING BELLEROPHON

<22> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05363 (Index). SDO14738.

C4 MOSAIC DEPICTING CHRIST

<23> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05364 (Index). SDO14738.

CLOSE-UP OF THE CHRIST ROUNDEL

<24> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05365 (Index). SDO14738.

C4 MOSAIC DEPICTING BELLEROPHON

<25> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB71/05366 (Index). SDO14738.

BELLEROPHON ROUNDEL - PART OF THE SAME MOSAIC AS THE BUST OF CHRIST. DEPICTS BELLEROPHON SPEARING CHIMAERA

<26> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB76/07162 (Index). SDO14738.

WORKING DRAWING OF MOSAIC BY D.S.NEAL

<27> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB76/07163 (Index). SDO14738.

DRAWING OF MOSAIC BY D.S.NEAL

<28> Historic England, Historic England Archive, BB76/07163 (Index). SDO14738.

DRAWING OF MOSAIC FRAGMENTS BY D.S.NEAL

<29> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00601 (Index). SDO14738.

LONG AXIS LOOKING SOUTH-WEST - CHRIST AT EAST END

<30> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00602 (Index). SDO14738.

CHRIST MOSAIC - SOUTH-EAST CORNER BUST

<31> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00603 (Index). SDO14738.

C4 MOSAIC DEPICTING CHRIST, VIEW WEST

<32> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00604 (Index). SDO14738.

C4 MOSAIC DEPICTING CHRIST, VIEW EAST

<33> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00605 (Index). SDO14738.

CHRIST MOSAIC - SOUTH-WEST CORNER BUST

<34> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00606 (Index). SDO14738.

CHRIST MOSAIC - NORTH-EAST CORNER BUST

<35> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00607 (Index). SDO14738.

CHRIST MOSAIC - NORTH-WEST CORNER BUST

<36> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00608 (Index). SDO14738.

TREE OF LIFE AT EAST END OF CHRIST MOSAIC

<37> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00609 (Index). SDO14738.

TREE OF LIFE AT EAST END OF CHRIST MOSAIC

<38> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00610 (Index). SDO14738.

SOUTHERN HUNTING SCENE OF THE CHRIST MOSAIC

<39> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00611 (Index). SDO14738.

BELLEROPHON MOSAIC - NORTHERN HUNTING SCENE

<40> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC71/00612 (Index). SDO14738.

BELLEROPHON MOSAIC - SOUTHERN HUNTING SCENE

<41> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC86/00139 (Index). SDO14738.

CHRISTIAN PAVEMENT

<42> Historic England, Historic England Archive, CC86/00140 (Index). SDO14738.

CHRISTIAN PAVEMENT

<43> Historic England, Historic England Archive, FF86/00354 (Index). SDO14738.

DRAWING OF C4 MOSAIC BY D.S.NEAL

<44> Historic England, Historic England Archive, FF86/00355 (Index). SDO14738.

DRAWING OF MOSAIC FRAGMENTS BY D.S.NEAL

<45> Historic England, Historic England Archive, FF86/00381 (Index). SDO14738.

C4 MOSAIC SHOWNG BUST OF CHRIST WITH INITIALS OR CHRISTOGRAM CHRISTOGRAM BEHIND THE HEAD. THIS IS SET WITHIN A SALTIRE.

<46> Historic England, Historic England Archive, P04412 (Index). SDO14738.

IRON WINDOW GRILLE FROM VILLA

<47> Historic England, Historic England Archive, RCH01/096 (Index). SDO14738.

RCHME Inventor.: Dorset III (Central): A large collection of archive relating to the RCHME Dorset Inventory Volume III, published in 1970. It contains field surveys and excavation archive. Parish files containing original surveys have been given child collection status.

<48> National Record of the Historic Environment, 202177 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Apr 1 2025 11:12AM