A HISTORY OF LEICESTERSHIRE 



ROTHLEY. The remains of a Roman villa were discovered in 1901 near Rothley Temple, 

 5 miles north of Leicester, about 50 yds. from the Great Central Railway station, at 

 the junction of the roads leading to Swithland and Rothley. The walls, so far as they were 

 traced, inclosed an area of 45 ft. by 30 ft. ; the floor was composed of concrete, still sound and 

 hard, from 4 in. to 6 in. thick, and lay from 3 ft. to 4 ft. below the present surface. The 

 walls, 2 ft. thick, were of large-sized granite rammel made solid with mortar, from i ft. 6 in. to 

 2 ft. in height. On the floor were hypocaust piers of red tiles embedded in mortar, varying 

 from 3 in. to 3 ft. 6 in. in height. The tiles showed clay of the sandy nature common in the 

 locality, and were from n^in. square and 2 in. thick, to Sin. square 3fin. thick. The 

 inside of the building to the level of the walls was filled with d6bris, including granite, stones, 

 clay, mortar, and red clay tiles which were thought to be roof and floor tiles ; fragments of 

 pottery, bone, and horn were also found. A well was discovered at the north-east corner ; it 

 was roughly circular, 3 ft. in diameter, and lined for a distance of 3 ft. from the top with 

 limestone slabs 3 in. thick, and for the remainder with granite rammel, no jointing material 

 being used. The well was also filled with rubbish, containing fragments of bone, and was 



FEET TO ft INCH* 



PLAN OF VILLA AT ROTHLEY 



covered with stone slabs to the same level as the walls (vide plan). Mr. Haverfield considered 

 that 'the plan showed a furnace-room, hypocaust, and the adjacent walling of a Roman villa, 

 but the area uncovered is only a small part of the whole building ; there is much more to be 

 discovered ' [Assoc. Arch. Soc. xxvi, 458]. At a later date, not far from the east side of the 

 portion uncovered, a coffin made of limestone slabs was disinterred, but was considerably broken 

 in digging it up. The bones inside it were collected as far as possible. It was lying east and 

 west, 2 ft. below the surface. Pieces of many different kinds of pottery, a quern, and fragments 

 of tesserae were found, also an iron knife, probably Roman, and a Saxon spearhead (both now 

 with other things from this place in the Leicester Museum) [post, ' Anglo-Saxon Remains ' ; 

 Assoc. Arch. Soc. xxvi, 458 ; Leic. Arch. Soc. ix, 157 ; Antiq. xxxviii, 1 08]. In 1904 an urn 

 containing bones and ashei was found in a sandpit, not far from the stone coffin [Leic. Arch. 

 Soc. ix, 239]. Nichols reported the discovery in 1722 of a pavement of small red and white 

 tesserae with some human bones and roof tiles, which were found 'near a hedge,' at Rothley 

 [Hist. Leic. iii, 956], In 17845 a small piece of pavement, about 4 ft. square, made of lime- 

 stone cubes, a cross 'plated with silver and gilt,' with a hook behind it, some coins of 



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