3. Tenter's Hill Field
The Group was, for several years, tantalised by the thought
that the town’s very own villa lay hidden beneath the slope of the hill,
just above the River Darent. Ordnance Survey maps from the 1890’s
onwards have shown foundations, following the discovery of walls at about
that time. A photograph in ‘Dartford Historical Notes’ by S. K. Keyes
heightens the mystery, by showing a wall configuration in the shape of
a letter ‘H’.
Roman foundations, Tenter's Hill Field, c 1895
In 1979 it transpired that the hillside was to
be substantially remodelled and terraced. The allotment holders were given
notice to quit, and the Group had a breathing space to survey the area,
and to re-locate the villa, if it did indeed lie waiting to be discovered.
‘Excavation Law’ operated to the full and after several months’ work
nothing had been found. Only two or three plots were left to be examined,
straddling the footpath crossing the site. Patience was rewarded when the
corner of a mortared flint wall was uncovered in the corner of one of the
plots.
Roman foundations, Tenter's Hill Field, 1979
The wall was followed to the west of the footpath. and
slowly a configuration emerged which corresponded exactly with the
appropriate photograph in ‘Keyes’. The villa had been re-located after
eighty years. Work then progressed on the eastern side of the path and
more of the general picture emerged —
an entire eastern wing, comprising store rooms, a
kitchen and a separate room with an opus signinum (crushed tile and mortar
mix) floor. Wings ran down from each corner, no doubt to be completed by a
fourth wing to form a rectangle, but for the heavy erosion which had taken
place on the hillside over the intervening centuries.
The kitchen was identified from
the unmistakable signs of a hearth and substantial burning in the floor.
Alongside this to the extreme south east of the villa came the room with
the opus signinum floor. The floor curved up towards each wall in the
room, forming a sort of ‘skirting board’. The walls themselves were
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North-West area excavated 1979
substantial height to the rear rising when excavated to 1m (3ft
3ins), and traces of wall plastering were observed, both on the interior
and exterior. The internal wall would have been painted red, white and
blue and the exterior, predominantly red. This particular part of the
building would therefore have stood out very clearly on the hillside. To
one side of the room a base was located. It was thought that this might
have been the foundation of an altar, and this lends weight to the
belief that this richly decorated room was a Shrine Room, forming a
later extension to the villa. This theory was further reinforced by the
later discovery of fragments of a mother goddess figurine. The figurine
was of a standard mass produced type and it has proved possible to
reconstruct this completely from illustrations of similar examples.
It has been a misconception that the
Romans were on the whole a hygienic people much given to bathing and
cleansing themselves. Unfortunately, on occasions they let themselves
down rather badly. To the east of the villa, running the entire length
of the wall, a deep drainage gully had been cut. This had been used by
the occupiers of the building as a long open rubbish pit directly
outside the kitchen window! This lack of cleanliness was, however, to be
our gain since the pit yielded a rich harvest of finds, including vast
quantities of pottery and numerous artifacts. These artifacts included
bone pins and needles, nails, a beam balance with its lead weight, and
door keys. ‘the pottery included parts of a lamp chimney and an urn
moulded on one side to form a face complete with eyes and a nose. A
bronze brooch, ring and studs were also found along with some fragments
of glass.
These finds added considerably to the
overall impression of life as it would have been in the villa, and
established beyond doubt that the building would have been a prominent
feature of Roman Dartford eighteen centuries ago. The villa would in all
have been approximately 30m (100ft) long cast to west and about 15m
(5Oft) wide north to south. The River Darent was in those days navigable
by boats of some size and the villa would therefore have been in a good
position to make use of this waterway. The transport of goods produced
on the villa estate to local markets and to the continent would have
been made a simple matter. There is a possibility that a granary (which
unfortunately did not come to light during the excavation) lay close to
the river bank, with maybe a convenient landing stage.
There is evidence to suggest that the
Romans themselves demolished much of the villa. Our pottery studies
suggest that this occurred between 250 and 300 A.D. but it is not
clear why they should have done this. Perhaps further evidence will come
to light in the future.
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