Abstract
AN appeal is issued for funds for the excavation of the extensive Roman villa site near the old village of Angmering, Sussex. The site is situated in the flat meadows which lie between the downs and the sea, beside a Roman road, still to be traced with probability as a farm track between Lyminster and Poling, and as the footpath from Poling to Angmering across the Black Ditch. The site first attracted the attention of archæologists in 1819, when a Roman bath was discovered, with hypocaust, sudarium and sewers. This bath was rediscovered at the beginning of the present year, and the whole bath building is now being uncovered by Mr. R. C. Sherrif and the Littlehampton Archæological Society, with the co-operation of the Sussex Archæological Society, under the direction of Miss Leslie Scott with Dr. R. E. Mortimer Wheeler acting as advisory director. The bath building comprises a dozen or more rooms, some with hypocausts, grouped around a cold-water tank. The building appears to stand by itself, surrounded by a beaten chalk causeway, flanked on the west side by a ditch. It was built in the latter part of the first century, and is interesting both on account of its early date and for the richness of its internal decoration. Beside the usual painted wall plaster and window glass, common on such sites, there is evidence that some walls were faced with slabs of different coloured stones. The bath building was destroyed in the middle of the second century ; but whether it was rebuilt can only be decided by excavation. The villa appears to lie to the west. With so rich a bath house, it should be a fine example of an early Romano-British country house. The cost of the complete excavation will be £500, of which £150 is required to finish the present season's work. The appeal is issued by a Committee of which Mr. E. W. Hulme is the chairman and Mr. E. J. F. Hearne the hon. secretary. Donations should be addressed to Mr. D. Crawford, Hon. Treasurer, Angmering Roman Villa Excavation Fund, Barclay's Bank, Littlehampton, Sussex.
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Angmering Roman Villa. Nature 140, 228–229 (1937). https://doi.org/10.1038/140228c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/140228c0