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Castle Hill, at Whitton, Ipswich, is now a large suburban housing estate, built soon after the second world war. Before that, it was open fields and farmland. And long before that, it was the site of a Roman villa.
Excavations between 1946 and 1950 by the renowned archaeologist, Basil Brown, suggested that it was a very large villa indeed. In fact, his original plans indicated that it could have been the largest in East Anglia. The children of Castle Hill primary school had invited Time Team to find out more.
While Basil Brown's excavations took place in open fields, however, Time Team was limited to people's back gardens – lots of them. This was to be back-garden archaeology on a massive scale.
Matching it all up
An immediate problem arose with Basil Brown's plans: they were not surveyed with any great degree of accuracy. If Time Team was to discover the true extent of the villa, it was necessary to match his plans to the existing landscape, and then to confirm that his presumptions (and it turned out that he made a lot of presumptions) were accurate.
The geophysics team faced an additional problem due to the huge amount of landscaping that has taken place in the area. In some places, the archaeological remains were buried deep below the surface; in others they appeared to be missing altogether.
'Basilled' archaeology
The Team eventually dug twelve deep trenches in eight back gardens. These revealed that Brown and his diggers had removed practically all the Roman evidence and had just left empty trench lines to indicate where walls would have been.
A new archaeological phrase was coined to describe these empty trenches: the site, it was said, had been 'Basilled'. As the dig progressed, moreover, Basil Brown's massive villa seemed to shrink in size. It transpired that the two wings to Brown's villa had been conjecture: they didn't actually exist. The villa was almost certainly far more modest than Brown had projected.
Non-Basilled remains
Time Team did eventually find some non-Basilled remains. The breakthrough came late in the dig when site supervisor Kerry Ely and digger Dan Dodds uncovered areas missed by Brown.
Kerry's trench revealed evidence of a burnt building, complete with burnt tile and wattle walling. Dan discovered a corner section of a flint wall, which would have been part of the villa porch. Finally, Phil Harding discovered the remains of a hypocaust system. It might not have been the biggest villa in East Anglia, but it still made the primary school children's invitation worthwhile.
Reconstruction cameo
This site first came to Time Team's attention as a result of contact made by the local school. So as a reconstruction cameo for the programme, the Team called in John Davis, an experimental archaeologist and re-enactor from the Legio Secunda Augusta living history society, who reconstruct Roman life.
Unfortunately, as sometimes happens on Time Team digs, the reconstruction got squeezed out of the finished programme because of shortage of time. John Davis's role was that of a Roman schoolteacher.
What was school like?
So what was school really like for Roman children?
'We actually know very little about what life was like in a Roman school,' says John. 'The essential problem, as with so much of Roman life, is that Roman authors liked to write about stirring aristocratic and literary subjects, not the minutiae of ordinary people's existence. Most of our evidence comes from what philosophers wrote about the education system or depictions like wall paintings and sculptures.'
School kit
John brought with him a range of items and reconstructed artefacts from numeral charts and wax tablets to bronze styluses and even a pocket abacus.
'Everything we brought along is a replica from something that has been discovered in the archaeological record. What we want to do is to show the range of items that school children would have used or been educated with,' says John.
Who went to school?
So who would have gone to school? Was it anything like today where children of a certain age have to go to school by law?
'Schooling in Roman times was a much less formal affair,' explains John. 'This is an age when people tended to automatically go into the sort of work their fathers did. There were no national institutions and schooling was much more like an aristocratic hobby than anything else.
'Schools came about when wealthy men in a town decided they should have something set up to educate their children. Otherwise tuition was more likely carried out in the home by a tutor or educated slave. There was no limit on who could be educated, you just had to be able to pay the tutor. However, it was usually boys who were educated as girls tended to be groomed for domestic duties or prepared for marriage.'
What subjects?
Children would have been taught a range of subjects in school that would have prepared them for later life.
'Roman education was much more old fashioned in our terms,' says John. 'The three Rs (reading, writing and arithmetic) were the order of the day. There was a lot of rote learning and table remembering. It was really geared up to the practicalities of being able to conduct business or contribute to your father's business, whatever that may be.
'There was also a leaning towards literary education – what we would call the classics. There were basically two prongs to Roman education: general learning so that you could do a job and then philosophy.'
Changes over time
Was schooling always like this for Roman children?
'We do see a number of changes,' explains John, 'In the east, the great civilisations of antiquity, like Babylon, Greece and Egypt, all had great traditions of teaching, and these traditions were continued when Christianity became the official religion of the empire in the fourth century. All of a sudden we see the Church creating special roles for administrators within the system and it becomes possible for many young people to gain an education through the Church.'
Time Team surveyor Henry Chapman could be seen climbing over fences and wading through fish ponds to cover all of the surveying points he needed for this programme. Did the maze of back gardens cause him many problems?
'I set up my base station on the roof of a garage, so that the signals could reach all of the gardens,' says Henry. 'It was important to do this because the equipment needs to be able to determine where it is in relation to the base station to record the survey properly. I'm also lucky because I've got a map built into my system so I can see exactly where I am.
'With all these gardens it's easy to become disorientated. Generally it went very well and I didn't experience any major problems. The best bit was seeing all the gardens. It's great for DIY ideas. I quite like the gates that one of the people has. I got loads of ideas for my house.'
For this programme Time Team 2D graphics guru Neil Emmanuel was very busy overlaying maps and graphics for landscape expert Stewart Ainsworth. What's it all about and why does he do it?
'On Time Team we always have lots of maps from different periods,' says Neil. 'As each new map is drawn, it automatically records any new features. So by comparing maps we can see how the landscape has changed.'
'On top of this we have plans from any previous archaeological work and annotated surveys and sketches that highlight other events that may have happened,' he continues. 'One of my jobs is to overlay these maps and plans so that Stewart can see exactly what is being depicted, identify any discrepancies and also see any relationships.
'Stewart generally comes to me and says, "I've got plans A, B and C and I want to see how they match up." I scan them into the computer and then increase or reduce them so they all have the same scale. Then I overlay them on the computer, and by making some of them translucent you can also see the map underneath.
'The overlays are printed off, and then Stewart can use them outside to see how they match up with the archaeology in the trenches – and hopefully solve a few mysteries.'
Time Team has carried out a number of other investigations into Roman sites in Britain, details of which can be found in the Past programmes section of this website. These include the 1997 Live dig on the site of a Roman villa at Turkdean, in Gloucestershire. As well as a detailed report on the dig, our special Live website included a chronology of Roman Britain, a range of Roman recipes and other links and resources.
Time Team returned to Turkdean as part of its 1999 series to see if it could make sense of the spectacular geophysics results that there had not been time to investigate during the Live programme. That same series also included a programme on a Roman bath house found at Beauport Park, East Sussex, and another programme based around a Roman settlement next to a fort at Papcastle, in Cumbria. The 2000 series included an excavation of Roman remains at Cirencester and at Birdoswald on Hadrian's Wall. All of these pages contain further information and extensive links to Roman-related websites.
As well as investigating another Roman villa, this time in the Waltham Villa programme, the 2001 series also saw Time Team searching for the remains of a Roman villa at Lower Basildon in Berkshire. There is a special feature on the web pages for that programme on Roman mosaics, including an extensive list of Roman mosaic websites and suggestions for further reading and places to visit.
The 2002 series also featured Roman digs at Castleford, Ancaster and Cheshunt, while the 2003 series featured those at Dinnington and Sedgefield. The 2004 series featured two Roman sites, at Whitestaunton and Ipswich.
Roman Britain by Tim Potter and Catherine Johns ('Exploring the Roman World' series, British Museum Publications, 1992) hardback £19.95; paperback £12.99
A survey of the effects of Roman culture on Britain and its people, by two British Museum curators. Includes evidence from the latest archaeological discoveries, including the Vindolanda writing tablets and the Thetford and Snettisham treasures, as well as a gazetteer of noteworthy sites to visit.
Roman Britain by T W Potter (British Museum Press, 1983, 2nd edition 1997) paperback £8.99
The four centuries during which the Roman presence in Britain rose, flourished and declined changed every aspect of life: industry, trade, government, the arts and learning. This book gives an illustrated outline of the period.
Roman Britain by Martin Millett (English Heritage, 1995) paperback £15.99
Making full use of the archaeological material available, this introductory study of four centuries of Roman presence in Britain explores the central themes of daily life, laying particular emphasis on the social, economic and cultural history.
Life in Roman Britain by Joan Alcock (Batsford/English Heritage, 1996) paperback £15.99
An excellent social history of life in Roman Britain covering food and drink, clothing, recreation, administration and religion. Richly illustrated.
Companion to Roman Britain by Guy de la Bédoyère (Tempus, 1999) hardback £25
This book is a comprehensive compilation of historical and epigraphic facts about Roman Britain and seeks to set the record straight about where facts end and opinions begin. Includes a complete breakdown of all military units, when and where they were stationed and so on, together with details of buildings, officials, administration and the first full list of the Gods of Roman Britain.
An Atlas of Roman Britain by Barri Jones and David Mattingly (Blackwell, 1993, 2001 edition) paperback £15.99
An amazing accumulation of archaeological evidence has been used to map every aspect of Roman life on a countrywide scale, including the distribution of Roman forts, towns, villas, potteries and quarries. Lots of additional plans and useful descriptions on each topic.
Channel 4 is not responsible for the content of third-party sites.
Legio Secunda Augusta
www.legiiavg.org.uk/
Website of the Legio Secunda Augusta Roman Living History Society, who were involved in a Roman school reconstruction cameo at the Ipswich dig.
Caistor Roman town
http://www2.cmp.uea.ac.uk/
Research/researchareas/
JWMP/CaistorRomanTown/crtp1.html
A virtual tour around the Roman town of Caistor, in Norfolk, which was a thriving regional capital almost two millennia ago. The site is unique in never having been disturbed by later buildings.
Forum Romanum
www.forumromanum.org
At this excellent site you can not only take a virtual tour of ancient Rome, but can also consult a dictionary of mythology, delve into Roman history and the Latin language, and take your pick of a variety of other links to sites concerned with the ancient world.
LacusCurtius: Into the Roman World
http://www.ukans.edu/history/
index/europe/ancient_rome/
E/Roman/home.html
Bill Thayer's enormous website includes a Roman Gazetteer, with more than 340 photos and commentary on Roman monuments; 19 complete Latin and Greek works from antiquity; Samuel Ball Platner's A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome; William Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities; Ptolemy's Geography; a Latin inscriptions site; a Roman atlas; 200 pages on Roman military history; and much more.
Roman Britain
www.roman-britain.org
Not the easiest website to navigate, but possibly the most comprehensive on Roman Britain. The site contains sections on the geography of Roman Britain, the native tribes, the Roman invaders, the Romano-British and literary references to Roman Britain, which are published online. There is a Roman military index and searchable maps that detail all known Roman encampments, forts, settlements and other features. There is also an immense amount of background information on all aspects of the Roman period.
Roman Britain
www.romanbritain.freeserve.co.uk
Time Team Roman expert Guy de la Bédoyère's website includes his online catalogue of stone inscriptions found on altars, statue bases, tombstones and other blocks of Roman masonry. This includes full details and photos of the inscribed stone found at Ancaster. Other resources include a catalogue of Roman gods and goddesses based on a chapter from his book Companion to Roman Britain; and a detailed section on Roman villas in Britain. Unfortunately, the overall design and use of type faces makes it extremely difficult to read in parts (small red type on a purple background does not make it easy on the eye!).
The Romans
www.open.ac.uk/romans
Website set up by the Open University and the BBC to accompany a three-part series about the Romans. Presented by Time Team's Roman expert Guy de la Bédoyère, the website allows you to explore each programme in detail, with synopses, scripts and biographies of the contributors. There's also a timeline, details of the main locations visited in the series, an extensive reading list, links to other sites, and more information about the Open University courses that the programmes support.
Open Directory Project
http://dmoz.org/Science/Social_Sciences/Archaeology/
Periods_and_Cultures/Roman/Sites_and_Monuments/United_Kingdom/
The archaeology section of the Open Directory Project, a collection of weblinks organised by subject, used to be maintained by Time Team Forum regular Jean Manco. This link takes you to the section on Roman sites and monuments in Britain.
Roman Britain Mailing Group
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/romanbritain
A Time Team Forum regular is behind this Yahoo group on Roman Britain, set up specially to discuss the history and archaeology associated with this furthest outpost of the Roman empire.
RomanSites
www.ukans.edu/history/index/
europe/ancient_rome/E/Roman/home.html
Still not had your fill of Roman websites? This one, a sub-site of Bill Thayer's LacusCurtius site contains more than 2,000 different links, arranged according to topic.