The site of Rockbourne Roman Villa, now such a quiet and peaceful spot, it is difficult to imagine what Rockbourne must have been like in Roman times
Rockbourne is a quiet and peaceful place near Fordingbridge out in the west of Hampshire and close to the New Forest.
Mosaic at Rockbourne
The large Roman villa is thought to have once stood in the centre of a sizeable farming estate. Its history spans the period from the Iron Age to the 5th century AD. There is a very informative exhibition which explains the history of the villa itself and of the Roman period and lifestyle at the time of its occupation.
Outside, the information boards guide you around the site and help make sense of the archaeology on the ground, always useful when your imagination has to engage to draw the buildings out of the ground.
Hypocaust at Rockbourne
There’s plenty to capture children’s attention and a number of ways the public can engage, including something called the RocDam Project which was a collaboration between Hampshire’s South West Arts and Museum team in partnership with The Damerham Archaeology Project. The project involved local people and organisations, sharing the research and discoveries at Rockbourne Roman Villa and the prehistoric complex in Damerham. Find out more at Rockbourne Roman Villa.
As always there are many ways to get involved and anything Roman seems to get children buzzing.
Use the map to search for more Hampshire History in the vicinity of Rockbourne Roman Villa.
The centre is open from the end of March to the end of September on Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 11am – 4pm
