Sparsholt Roman villa

Sparsholt Roman villa lies in West Wood, just west of Sparsholt village in Hampshire. Built in stages from the 2nd to the 5th century, it was later abandoned. Excavations between 1965 and 1972 uncovered its remains. Today nothing is visible at the site itself. Finds from the dig are displayed in Winchester City Museum. A reconstruction of one wing stands at Butser Ancient Farm. The earliest structure was a simple farmhouse from the 2nd century. By 200 AD it had become an aisled house with living rooms and a bath suite. In the early 4th century a winged-corridor house was added at right angles. Both buildings enclosed a rectangular courtyard with a barn on the third side. Mosaics and tessellated pavements decorated the floors of both houses. Winchester City Museum shows a 4th-century geometric mosaic from the aisled building. A fresco there depicts a woman’s portrait in a tondo, possibly the house’s mistress. Another fresco reproduces a rare guilloché pattern. At Butser Ancient Farm the reconstructed aisled villa includes a working hypocaust system built by volunteers.