OLD DURHAM
Durham, England.
Roman
remains were discovered in 1940 near the river Wear
and 1.6 km E of Durham City. In 1941-43 a small bath
house was excavated, dating from the late 2d c. and partly lying over an earlier boundary ditch. This ditch contained Antonine pottery in its primary silt, but still earlier occupation was indicated by fragments of native
ware, while the latest Roman pottery on the site was
of the 4th c.
In 1948 two circular structures, probably threshing
floors, were investigated; these were 36 m NW of the
bath house and lay over late 2d c. pottery. In 1951 work
was confined to two paved areas, some 50 m due N of the
bath house; they lay over a rubbish pit and were associated with pottery of 3d-4th c. date. The bath house was of civilian, not military, type; and the remains are of interest as representing the most northerly complex,
with claims to be a villa, so far discovered in the Roman empire.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
I. A. Richmond et al., “A Civilian
Bath House . . . ,”
Arch. Ael. 22 (1944) 1-21
MIP; R. P.
Wright & J. P. Gillam, “Roman Buildings at Old Durham,” ibid. 29 (1951) 203-12
PI; id., “Third Report on
the Roman Site at Old Durham,” ibid. 31 (1953) 116-26
PI.
A.L.F. RIVET
