Form IV Visit To Piddington Villa - November 2005

On Monday 7th November
Form IV went to experience a
trove of history on our doorstep
in the unspoilt village of Piddington.
For 26 years the Roman Villa of
Tiberius Claudius Severus has been
excavated, a site that lay merely
6 inches under the surface for
1,900 years!

The visit began with a walk across
the fields to the excavation site
and to see some of the current
excavations. Then we went to the
museum to see some of the finds
and spend some time learning at
first hand what it must have been
like to b e a Romano-Britain.

Once at the museum the boys were
given a quick explanation of the key
exhibits and how the villa was built,
from roof to hypocaust, before being
split into groups. One group
conducted their own experiment
using mustard seed to see how crop
markings can reveal much about what
lies beneath.

Another group peeled off to cook
a Roman recipe and the other
sat round a table of herbs learning
about Roman medicine. Time
flew past and we left infected with
the warmth and enthusiasm of the
one year old museum, for the
period and for the place.