England but successfully made wine from the grapes grown. At one end of the herb garden is a dining area, three sided with a frame above to take curtains – and whereas in Italy and other parts of the Mediterranean these would have kept off the sun, often in this country the curtains must have been used as a windbreak, not so different from the windbreaks used by people today on the beach at West Wittering, a few miles away.
Town gardens were of necessity smaller for many inhabitants, but would have had the same basic design elements, downscaled. The garden was an extension of the house, with outside dining, socialising and worship, proving that there is nothing new under the sun, and that modern fashions are based in antiquity.
the centuries until it was finally destroyed by fire in the late 3rd century AD.
Excavations in the 1960s revealed the palace’s world famous mosaic floors including the one depicting the boy on a dolphin, and remains of colonnaded walks round the building. Bedding trenches, tree pits and post holes from the 1st century AD were found in what had been the garden, survivors of centuries of ploughing. The site had reverted to farmland, everything
Caerlion in Wales which the Romans called Isca
hidden beneath the surface until a workman cutting a water- main trench came across some very ancient looking building rubble in 1960. There had been some early finds in the early 19th century but these were poorly recorded, so the 1960 discovery marks the beginning of our knowledge of the Roman palace.
Among all the remains were broken marble fountain basins and ancient ceramic water mains. So Fishbourne had the requisite water features for a Roman garden, with fountains at intervals spaced along the paths.
The formal gardens were architectural with flower beds and pathways laid out geometrically
The formal gardens were architectural, flower beds and pathways laid out geometrically, with stone seats, columns, plant pots and troughs. There were fountains, ornamental pools, statues and colonnaded walks to give shelter when the sun was overhead and warm, or from the rain which some Roman writers complained about.
Long narrow structures on two sides of the courtyard at Pitney villa in Somerset are thought to have been garden pavilions. Remains of terraces and a paved path have been found in the forecourt of the villa at Sudeley in Gloucestershire.
Aerial photography has enabled archaeologists to understand more about the layout of these gardens. Crop marks show up the outlines of hedge lines and formal planting. Pollen analysis such as that carried out at Fishbourne revealed some of the plants in the garden.
Fishbourne was a spectacular building, a palace fit for a king and the king is thought to be a British man called Cogidubnus who was rewarded for his pro-Roman sympathy. The palace dates from about 73 AD and was added to over
One of the archaeological digs revealed a large terrace garden that went down to the sea on one side (the sea came further inland at this time), with a pond and fountains, but the evidence is that this was a more natural garden away from the formal area.
It is thought that the Roman gardens in Britain had kitchen garden areas and orchards as well as the ornamental gardens. Although there was no wholesale destruction of life or buildings in the West Country, after the Roman legions left the way of life altered gradually and the gardens, particularly the more elaborate ones, were abandoned and lost.
Next month: Mediaeval gardens
Find these replicas of Roman gardens not far away
at Fishbourne Roman Palace, near Chichester, West Sussex
at the National Roman Legion Museum, Caerlion, Newport, Wales
and go to these other Roman sites Chedworth Roman Villa North Leigh Roman Villa, Oxfordshire Roman remains in Bath
Country Gardener
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