Dartford Tenters Field Villa
Today Dartford Tenters Field Villa is covered by allotments. In Roman times it was probably a large home. Archaeologists excavated the villa in 1979 to find out more about it. They found evidence of what the villa looked like. They also found objects left behind by the people who lived and worked there.
What did the Villa Look Like?
This villa had a large hall with smaller rooms around it. These smaller rooms were storerooms and a kitchen. Some of the rooms had an opus signinum floor (made of tiles broken up into small pieces and smoothed out).
Archaeologists have also found evidence of wall plaster on the inside and the outside of the villa. This has helped them work out how the villa was decorated. The walls on the inside of the villa were painted red, white and blue. The outside of the villa could have been mostly painted red. This part of the villa would have stood out very clearly in the landscape.
Exploring the Evidence
Archaeologists found lots of Roman household rubbish in a deep ditch during their dig which gave them an idea of what life was like at the villa. The ditch ran the whole length of one of the villa’s walls and was used as a rubbish pit in Roman times. In the ditch, archaeologists found pottery, bone pins and needles, iron keys and nails, as well as a coin. The coin was from the mid-2nd century so we think that the villa fell out of use between 250 and 300 AD. They could tell that the ditch was just outside the kitchen because they found a hearth and signs of burning on the floor inside the villa.
One of the rooms inside the villa had a stone base at one end. This could have made up the bottom of an altar and the rich decoration in the room has led archaeologists to think that it was a ‘Shrine Room’. Later, parts of a goddess figurine were found.
It’s possible that the Romans demolished much of this villa between 250 and 300 AD but we don’t know exactly why they would have done this.
The villa was covered over again once the dig was finished to protect it. The villa is kept safe today underneath a layer of soil and allotments.
Crafts and Skills at the Villa
The archaeologists found lots of Roman household rubbish during the dig which gave them an idea of what life was like at the villa. This included pottery, bone pins and needles, iron keys and nails, as well as a coin. The coin was from the mid-2nd century so we think that the villa fell out of use between 250 and 300 AD.