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Monument details

HER Number:TQ 67 SW 1423
Type of record:Monument
Name:Northfleet Roman villa bath-house site

Summary

During the mid-2nd century AD a bath-house was built to serve Northfleet Roman villa. The bath-house was built north of the main villa range close to the river Ebbsfleet. The bath was built in two phases and the bath-house was extended to the west in c. AD 200. In its largest form the bath-house included a cold room, a warm room, a hot room and a bath. It was heated by a furnace, flues and possibly a hypocaust. The walls were covered in painted plaster and the floor was tiled.


Grid Reference:TQ 6162 7409
Map Sheet:TQ67SW
Parish:SWANSCOMBE AND GREENHITHE, DARTFORD, KENT

Monument Types

  • BATH HOUSE (Roman - 150 AD? to 380 AD?)
  • DRAIN (Roman - 150 AD? to 380 AD?)
  • FLOOR (Roman - 150 AD? to 380 AD?)
  • FLUE (Roman - 150 AD? to 380 AD?)
  • FURNACE (Roman - 150 AD? to 350 AD?)
  • GULLY (Roman - 150 AD? to 350 AD?)
  • HYPOCAUST (Roman - 150 AD? to 380 AD?)

Associated Finds

  • FLOOR TILE (Roman - 150 AD? to 380 AD?)
  • WALL PLASTER (Roman - 150 AD? to 380 AD?)
  • Charcoal (Roman - 220 AD? to 390 AD?) + Sci.Date

Full description

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Northfleet Roman villa (TQ 67 SW 38) was located beside the river Ebbsfleet between Springhead and the Thames.


Bath house associated with the "Northfleet Villa" site. The condition of the bath house, excavated by the Thameside Archaeological Group, is not known.(3-5)

From c. AD 150 a bath-house was constructed on the site that continued in use until the late 3rd / early 4th century.

During works associated with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link from 1997 to 2001 the villa site was excavated.

The bath-house was constructed in two phases:

AD 150 - the bath-house comprised a cold room (frigidarium), a warm room (tepidarium), a hot room (caldarium) and maybe a bath (although not all these rooms were constructed at exactly the same time, being extended to the west gradually). The suite occupied a block c. 20m x 4m though there was a 4.5m x 4m room projecting on the north side of the building for the caldarium. Slightly to the east a praefurnium or furnace room was constructed and the remnants of a flue and furnace were observed.

The caldarium was built of alternating courses of chalk block and tile, bonded with opus signinum and filled with a flint rubble core. Traces of square mortar bases suggested that it contained a hypocaust at this stage. Rooms to the west lacked evidence of a hypocaust and have been interpreted as the cooler rooms of the suite. A series of gullies to the north of the building may have been part of the water supply and drainage system although this is speculative.

In phase 5 of the villa site (AD 200-250/60) a new suite of rooms was added to the west end of the bath-house and a new bath and furnace inserted at the east end. Evidence of red painted plaster was found on internal walls and the floor was tiled. Water flowed from the bath into a lead pipe. The hot room was extended eastwards and a new flue inserted. A new bath was also added to the east end of the suite.

In the later Roman period (AD 250/260 - 380) a new bath-house was constructed in the eastern range of the villa but the old bath-house remained in use. Oak charcoal, used as fuel, gave a radiocarbon date of AD 220-390. The bath-house was completely abandoned after c. AD 380. (1)

Stratified coal from excavation on Romano-British site.(2)


<1> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2010, Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. The Late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval Landscape (Unpublished document). SKE31245.

<2> Ansell, R. J. and Smith, A. H.V., 1985, Coal from the Romano-British site at Northfleet (Article in serial). SWX7724.

<3> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1997, The Ebbsfleet Valley, Northfleet, Kent: ARC EFT 97: Archaeological Evaluation: Volume 1 Report (Unpublished document). SKE12220.

<4> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1997, The Ebbsfleet Valley, Northfleet Kent, ARC EFT 97: Archaeological Evalaution: Volume 2 Appendices (Unpublished document). SKE12221.

<5> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 1997, The Ebbsfleet Valley, Northfleet, Kent: ARC EFT 97: Archaeological Evaluation: Volume 3 Figures and Plates (Unpublished document). SKE12222.

<6> Oxford Archaeology, 2003, Ebbsfleet Valley Detailed Mitigation Works, Northfleet, Kent: Interim Statement (Unpublished document). SKE12256.

<7> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 2001, Channel Tunnel Rail Link Ebbsfleet Sports Ground, Northfleet, ARC ESG00, Phase 2 Evaluation Archaeological Works Fieldwork Report Final (Unpublished document). SKE12227.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
<1>Unpublished document: Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture. 2010. Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. The Late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval Landscape.
<2>Article in serial: Ansell, R. J. and Smith, A. H.V.. 1985. Coal from the Romano-British site at Northfleet. 79, pages 220-2.
<3>Unpublished document: Oxford Archaeological Unit. 1997. The Ebbsfleet Valley, Northfleet, Kent: ARC EFT 97: Archaeological Evaluation: Volume 1 Report.
<4>Unpublished document: Oxford Archaeological Unit. 1997. The Ebbsfleet Valley, Northfleet Kent, ARC EFT 97: Archaeological Evalaution: Volume 2 Appendices.
<5>Unpublished document: Oxford Archaeological Unit. 1997. The Ebbsfleet Valley, Northfleet, Kent: ARC EFT 97: Archaeological Evaluation: Volume 3 Figures and Plates.
<6>Unpublished document: Oxford Archaeology. 2003. Ebbsfleet Valley Detailed Mitigation Works, Northfleet, Kent: Interim Statement.
<7>Unpublished document: Oxford Archaeological Unit. 2001. Channel Tunnel Rail Link Ebbsfleet Sports Ground, Northfleet, ARC ESG00, Phase 2 Evaluation Archaeological Works Fieldwork Report Final.

Related records

TQ 67 SW 1500Parent of: Bath of Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1499Parent of: Cold room (frigidarium) of Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1496Parent of: Flint wall and remains of furnace and flue of Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1501Parent of: Gullies to north of Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1497Parent of: Hot room (caldarium) of Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1503Parent of: Room 10508 and flue in the Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1502Parent of: Room 10509 in the Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1506Parent of: Room 10563 in the Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1504Parent of: Room 10624 in the Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1505Parent of: Room 10697 in the Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 1498Parent of: Warm room (tepidarium) of Ebbsfleet Roman Villa Bath-House (Monument)
TQ 67 SW 38Part of: Northfleet Roman Villa Site, Ebbsfleet Valley (Monument)