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Mail David
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in the Upper Thames Valley
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- Most of the Romano-British
people in the Thames Valley lived in simple farms or villages with single-roomed
wooden round
houses, like they did in the Iron
Age.
- The Romans built posh rectangular farmhouses
out of stone (or at least partly of stone). They called them 'villas'. They had lots of rooms.
- There are lots of different
types of villa. The most common were:
- Cottage Villas, which were
simple rectangles. You went through each room to get to the next.
Like at Alfred's Castle in Ashbury.
- Corridor Villas, which had a
covered walkway along one side. You could use this to get to all
the rooms. Like at Barton Court Farm in Abingdon.
- Winged Corridor Villas,
which were like Corridor Villas but with two 'wings' of rooms
sticking out on each end. Like at Cox Green near Maidenhead.
- Aisled Villas, which were
like big barns, sometimes split into rooms inside. Like at Knowl
Hill.
- Courtyard Villas, which had
rooms on three or four sides of a courtyard. These could be very
large.
- Only the first four types have
been found in Berkshire. These weren't as posh as the courtyard villas
found in the counties next door, particularly in Hampshire, Wiltshire
and Gloucestershire.
- Some people think that the
villas in the Thames Valley were owned by the Roman government.
So the farmers had to pay lots of taxes and couldn't afford to build
big courtyards.
- Berkshire villas still had lots of expensive Roman luxuries
though:
- Underfloor heating systems
(called hypocausts) to keep you warm. These were often under the
dining room called a 'triclinium'.
- Window glass
- Bath houses for keeping you
clean. They were like modern steam rooms.
- Cellars, probably used for
cold storage.
- Mosaics were pretty patterns
or pictures on the floor made out of tiny coloured stones.
- Wall plaster painted with
colours (especially red), patterns or pictures.
- Doors with locks.
- Were there any Roman villas near
you?
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