Lullingstone Roman Villa and the Darent Valley
Reconstruction drawing of Lullingstone Roman Villa, Kent, in its 4th-century landscape

Lullingstone Roman Villa

Lullingstone Roman Villa changed and developed over time, giving us lots of clues about what life was like in Roman Britain between the 1st and 4th centuries.

The first villa at Lullingstone may have been built as early as the AD 80s. Around five hundred years after the Romans left Britain in around AD 410, materials from the villa were likely used in new buildings including a chapel.

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What did the villa look like?

We know that Lullingstone Roman Villa developed over 400 years. During this time there were lots of changes to the main house and the buildings around it.

Click on the pictures below to discover how Lullingstone Roman Villa changed over time.

Reconstruction painting bird's eye view of the first Lullingstone Roman villa, dating from about AD 100

First Villa

First Villa

When it was first built in the AD 80s, the villa had four rooms with wings at either end of the building. It also had a cellar or 'deep room'. A circular building was added to the northwest of the house in the 2nd century. This could have been a shrine. There may have also been a bath-house.

 

© Historic England (illustration by Peter Urmston)



Cutaway reconstruction view of the bath suite at Lullingstone Roman Villa as it may have appeared in the late 3rd century

A Governor's Palace?

A Governor's Palace?

The villa was made bigger in the 2nd century, after 150 AD. This could mean that the owners of Lullingstone Villa were becoming wealthier. Objects found within the villa suggest that it could have been owned by important people, including a governor of Britannia. A bath suite was built onto the south side of the villa house and more rooms were added to the north side.

 

© Historic England (illustration by Peter Dunn/Richard Lea)



3rd-Century Villa

3rd-Century Villa

In the 3rd century AD the rooms on the northern side of the villa were replaced with five narrower rooms. Three of these had under-floor heating. A Christian house church was established above the Deep Room. Outside the villa, there was a granary and a temple-mausoleum as well as a new veranda and maybe a waterside garden.



Reconstruction drawing of Lullingstone Roman Villa, Kent, in the late 4th century

4th-Century Changes

4th-Century Changes

The original dining room was made into an audience chamber in the 4th century and a new apsed dining room was created. These had large mosaics on the floor showing stories from Roman mythology. The design of these rooms shows that the villa's owners were wealthy and important people who wanted to show off their culture and learning.

 

© English Heritage (drawing by Peter Urmston)



Evidence at the Villa

Click on the images below to find out more about evidence of Roman life at Lullingstone Roman Villa. 

PAW PRINTS

PAW PRINTS

PAW PRINTS
This is a fragment of Roman tile found at Lullingstone. A dog walked across the clay before it was fired leaving its paw print behind. Paw prints like this suggest that animals were a part of everyday life at the villa in Roman times.
MOSAICS

MOSAICS

MOSAICS
Mosaic floors were made of small cubes of stone or glass called tesserae. They were some of the most expensive decorations in Roman villas. The designs show stories from Roman myths. At Lullingstone, you can see a mosaic of Bellerophon. He was a prince who killed a fire-breathing monster, the Chimera, on his winged horse, Pegasus.
GAMING COUNTERS

GAMING COUNTERS

GAMING COUNTERS
These game counters are made of glass. They are grave goods that were found in the mausoleum at Lullingstone. The counters were found with pottery, glass bottles and bowls, two silver spoons and the remains of a game board.
HYPOCAUST SYSTEM

HYPOCAUST SYSTEM

HYPOCAUST SYSTEM
Hypocausts were a kind of central heating system. They were made using pillars of tiles called pilae to support the floor. The Romans lit fires to create hot air which passed though the gap created by the pillars under the floor. This heated their homes.

Explore the Collection

Take a closer look at some objects from the collection at Lullingstone Roman Villa using our 3D images. 

What can historic objects tell us?

    

Industry, Crafts and Skills at the Villa

Click on the images below to find out more about the crafts and skills we can see at Lullingstone Roman Villa. 

An engraving of 1769 of the ruins of Lullingstone chapel at Lullingstone Roman Villa
Lullingstane chapel is a ruin in this drawing of 1769, when it was described as built of 'flints and Roman bricks'; it was probably built during the late Saxon period, using materials salvaged from the villa

After the Romans

In the 5th century a fire damaged the building and the villa may have been abandoned. Useful building materials were taken from the villa to be used in other places. The Lullingstone site was occupied during the Saxon period and the Middle Ages. The Lullingstane Chapel was built over the top of the Temple Mausoleum. This was used until the early 15th century. There was also a medieval graveyard in the area.