Street Farm Roman Villa & Mosaic
Excavations at Street Farm ended in August 2018, and David Sanchez, the
archaeologist in charge of the site for Thames
Valley Archaeological Services, handed over the last remaining area to
Deanfield Homes. The site, a large Roman villa complex, turned out to be
much more important than anyone had anticipated and, as David said, it is
the sort of excavation that an archaeologist only comes across once in
their professional life.
Right up to the last moment new discoveries were being made. The most
important was a bath house and a hypocaust, an underfloor central heating
system, in the corner of the site between St John’s Road and the school.
This is part of a second major building, as big as the villa with its
mosaic floors, which probably extends under the gardens of the houses on St
John’s road and under the school.
In September 2019, David gave a talk to Tackley Local History Group about
the villa. An audio recording is available here.
Listen to David’s
talk (MP3)
It is sad that these two-thousand-year-old buildings have now been
destroyed to make way for new houses and roads. The one consolation is that
they have been fully excavated and their complex history, with several
phases of building and occupation, has been recorded.
Storyboard
A large and colourful poster telling the story of the discovery can be seen
in the lobby of
Tackley Village Hall. Designed by Chris Matthews, this storyboard is a
window onto that dynamic era in our history, the time when Tackley was a
Romano-British settlement. Be sure to take a look when the hall is open,
encouraging your children or grandchildren to come along too.
Mosaic Floor
Although this impressive site has now disappeared under the new houses of
Roman Place, what emerged from the excavation will not be lost:
- The evidence has been published (see details below) and will increase
and influence everyone’s understanding of Romano-British life in our
region.
- The finds will be analysed and curated by
The Oxfordshire Museum and in due course they will be accessible for
study.
- A mosaic floor from the villa has been donated by the site’s owner,
Deanfield Homes, to the Tackley community. So one small part of this great
discovery will be returned to its source, a reminder to future generations
of a vital element in our local history.
The mosaic has been carefully lifted and stored by Thames Valley
Archaeological Services. A feasibility study was prepared, addressing the
following questions:
- What are the benefits of having the mosaic in the village?
- Where would it best be located?
- How should it be conserved and protected?
- How much will it cost, and how can the money be raised?
Download the feasibility
study (PDF)
The history group would like to find a way to bring back the mosaic and
display it in the village. Please let us know your views on how this might
be achieved.
We owe it to the children raised in the village, now and in the future,
to hand this legacy on to them — and with it a richer understanding of our
local history. And they need to see the real thing.
Publications
Thames Valley Archaeological Services have published the report of their
work: David Sanchez, A Roman Villa at Street Farm, Tackley,
Oxfordshire (TVAS Monograph 41, 225 pp, 43 colour plates,
ISBN 978-1-911228-52-3) priced £25 + P&P.
They have also published a full-colour booklet (16 pp) on the excavation:
David Sanchez, Excavation of the Roman Villa at Street Farm, Tackley,
Oxfordshire (TVAS Booklet 1, ISBN 978-1-911228-55-4) priced £5 +
P&P.
Both are available from the History Group – contact the secretary Sue
Ashton at tackleyhistory@gmail.com – and from
Thames Valley Archaeological
Services.