Uploaded December 2012 | Updated September 2026, 21 minutes ago
Bignor Roman Villa is located just off the South Downs Way (Grid ref: SU988147), with the excavations of a large Roman courtyard villa open to the public since 1815.
The villa contains some of the finest and best preserved Roman mosaic floors in England. Bignor Roman Villa is a good example of the main residence of the many wealthy citizens who chanced living outside the protection of cities to get the added comfort of more space.
The earliest structural remains are of a simple timber farm structure dating to around 200 AD. A four-roomed stone building was built in the middle of the 3rd century, and this was extended before 400 AD by the addition of a few new rooms, a portico that faced east towards Stane Street. The building also featured a hypocaust, a sophisticated under floor heating system popular with Romans.
Although not quite as grand as Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester, Bignor Villa is more manorial than palatial and is an important historical building that has provided historians with detailed knowledge of how the Roman ruling classes lived during their occupation of Sussex.
Bignor Roman Villa is located just off the South Downs Way (Grid ref: SU988147), with the excavations of a large Roman courtyard villa open to the public since 1815.
The villa contains some of the finest and best preserved Roman mosaic floors in England. Bignor Roman Villa is a good example of the main residence of the many wealthy citizens who chanced living outside the protection of cities to get the added comfort of more space.
The earliest structural remains are of a simple timber farm structure dating to around 200 AD. A four-roomed stone building was built in the middle of the 3rd century, and this was extended before 400 AD by the addition of a few new rooms, a portico that faced east towards Stane Street. The building also featured a hypocaust, a sophisticated under floor heating system popular with Romans.
Although not quite as grand as Fishbourne Roman Palace near Chichester, Bignor Villa is more manorial than palatial and is an important historical building that has provided historians with detailed knowledge of how the Roman ruling classes lived during their occupation of Sussex.
