Borough Hill Roman building

Borough Hill Roman villa stands on the northern tip of Borough Hill, a high hill near Daventry in Northamptonshire. The hill was once an Iron Age fortress, and the villa’s ruins lie within its old ramparts. In 1823 the historian George Baker found traces of the villa while studying local sites. He linked the hill with ancient names Benaventa and Isannavaria. Later, in 1852, local historian Beriah Botfield dug deeper and recorded everything he found. Some of his drawings and notes now rest in the British Museum. Botfield’s work uncovered many rooms arranged from north to south, including a bath suite. The villa grew over time, with the northern rooms added later. The earliest parts date from the early years of Roman rule. Builders used local marlstone and rubble, plastered the inside walls, and covered the roof with tiles. Fragments of painted plaster still clung to the walls when uncovered. Excavators also found a hypocaust heating system beneath the floors. A stone-lined well stood to the south-west, and inside it lay a skeleton with bronze fittings and an iron brooch. Today the site looks like open grassland because Botfield carefully backfilled the ruins. The sandstone walls could not survive the weather unless covered again. A walk across the hilltop shows no walls or floors, yet the buried remains remain protected. The hilltop offers wide views over the countryside around Daventry. Nearby stands the modern monument to the Roman road Bannaventa, linking past and present.