Rockbourne Roman Villa

Rockbourne is near Fordingbridge in a picturesque and peaceful part of Hampshire close to the New Forest. The Roman villa once stood in the centre of a large farming estate, and is the largest known villa in the area. Its history spans the period from the Iron Age to the 5th century AD.

Today you can walk around the remains of the villa and visit the site museum which displays many of the fascinating objects found on the site and shows what life was like for the Roman Britons who lived here over 1600 years ago.

The villa site includes bath houses, living quarters, farm buildings and workshops. Visitors can see the best mosaics, part of the underfloor heating system and the outline of the villa's forty rooms.

On the site of the villa the best preserved foundations have been left visible, together with two mosaic floors and a hypocaust (heating system). The rest of the site is grassed over, with gravel pathways making the position of walls and showing the outline of buildings.

Rockbourne Roman Villa was discovered in 1942 by a farmer digging out a ferret who found oyster shells and tiles. Local antiquarian, the local amateur archaeologist AT Morley Hewitt recognised its significance and devoted the next 30 years to unearthing the villa.

In 1972 a purpose-built site museum was created to display the important collection of artefacts found during the excavations. In 1979 the site was taken over by Hampshire County Council Museums Service. and modern displays created.