11 October 08
www.english-heritage.org.uk
Lullingstone Roman Villa was discovered in 1939 and is considered to be one of the best preserved and most exciting archaeological finds in the country?
Excavations commenced after the war in 1949, and in 1958 the site was taken into the guardianship of the 'Ministry of Works and Ancient Monuments'. Once excavated Lullingstone Roman Villa was preserved by the erection of a protective building, and was opened to the public in 1963. Between 2006-08 a much needed £1.8m renovation and redisplay project was carried out. You can now enjoy a very well produced audio-visual presentation and interactive light show that really helps to bring the history of this site to life.
The Lullingstone Villa was positioned to overlook the river Darenth and was surrounded by outbuildings and gardens. It stood at the the centre of a farm totalling at least 200 acres. The construction date of the original Villa is believed to be around AD75, originally using timber and daub, being reconstructed of stone in the 2nd century. As is often the case with buildings that survive several centuries, the Villa underwent many improvements during its lifetime.
The central spectacle of this Villa has to be the Mosaic floor in the dining room which has two main sections. In the apse, there is a scene depicting the 'Rape of Europa by Jupiter', and in the main area another shows 'Bellerophon riding Pegasus killing the Chimaera', a fire breathing lion-like monster. These have been wonderfully preserved and are still so vivid! Another interesting aspects of Lullingstone is that for a while at least Christian and Pagan worship were practiced concurrently on different floors in the same building.
...Dave and I stumbled across this English Heritage gem whilst enjoying a fabulous walk in the Kent countryside. The sun was out - the sky was blue, what more could you wish for?
8 out of 10
