BARNSLEY PARK VILLA
Gloucestershire, England.
Roman villa near Cirencester, excavated since
1960. The chronology of the site can be summarized:
1) The pottery, including Samian, suggests activity
from the early 2d c. on, but no structures have yet been
found except a deep, partly stone-lined pit which may
have been an abortive well, some drainage gullies, and
an enclosure ditch.
2) The first series of structures consists of circular
and rectangular pens, built in dry-stone walling, presumably for animals. Several had been rebuilt, and are datable from the 3d c.
3) A stone building with mortar walls in the form of
a typical winged-corridor house and a large barn built
ca. 360. The central area, where the main living quarters should have been, was an open space in which a small bath underwent two extensive renovations. Occupation continued until ca. 380.
4) Domestic activity ceased and the building was
converted to agricultural use; this continued until the
whole area was reduced to a large yard, presumably early
in the 5th c.
5) Much of the field system has been traced and
from the boundary ditches has come grass-tempered pottery of late 5th c. date which does not appear in the main building site.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Interim report,
Trans. Bristol & Glos.
Arch. Soc. 86 (1967) 74-87;
Britannia 3 (1972) 338-39
P.
G. WEBSTER
