Monument record CSM 041 - Roman Villa, The White House Mill Hill Capel St Mary

2014 Evaluation: The truncated remains of a building foundation wall was revealed in two of the trenches, interpreted as the Roman villa, thought to be in this location. Along with the building foundation walls a number of associated features were also found including a compacted rubble surface considered to be a floor, post holes and an Iron Age ditch (butt-end), which contained Late Iron Age and Belgic ware pottery. Among the other finds from the associated features were a small quantity of good quality painted wall plaster confirming the high status of the Roman building and a large quantity of roofing tile some of which confirmed the existence of a hypocaust system possibly from a bath house in the vicinity.

2014: An excavation revealed six phases of activity from the late Iron Age to the modern period, perhaps the most significant of which was the remains of an early Roman corridor villa building dating to the mid-1st century AD. A large Iron Age enclosure ditch was located within the eastern side of the excavation area and the villa building is likely to have replaced a small late Iron Age farming settlement. The presence of three temporary late Iron Age/early Roman bipartite ovens suggested this area of the site was used for low level food production after the infilling of the Iron Age enclosure ditch, but just prior to construction of the villa building and revealed a rare insight into early post-conquest site activity. The exposed villa building footprint comprised a rear corridor and part of a wing to the north that contained a large room and smaller corridors. The room and one of the corridors showed evidence stone mosaic and ceramic tessellated floor surfaces. Fragments of painted wall plaster and box flue tiles further suggested this had been a high status building. Finds from robber trenches present within the earlier wall cuts suggest that the destruction of this building was complete by the middle of the 3rd century AD and it is likely the material was reused in other buildings not revealed in the excavation area. Numerous high status finds and building material are recorded in the Suffolk Historic Environment Record (CSM 002) just to the west of the site. The results of the excavation offered a relatively rare opportunity to examine the early development of Roman villas in East Anglia, although the remains were highly truncated and disturbed by a later post- medieval building associated with low level industrial activity. Included in the Proceedings of the Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History annual round up of individual finds and discoveries for 2014 (S2). Full report to follow.