Crofton Roman Villa

Crofton Roman Villa
Crofton Roman Villa
	Crofton Roman Villa, museum
	Location within Greater London
General information
Location	Orpington; grid reference TQ454658
Country	United Kingdom
Coordinates	51°22′22″N 0°05′16″E / 51.3729°N 0.0878°E
Construction started	c. 140
Demolished	c. 400

Crofton Roman Villa in Crofton, Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, is a Roman villa which was inhabited between approximately 140 and 400 AD. It was the centre of a farming estate of about 500 acres (200 ha), with farm buildings nearby, surrounded by fields, meadows and woods. The house was altered several times during its 260 years of occupation, and at its largest it probably had at least 20 rooms.

The remains of ten rooms can be seen today. Two rooms contain the remains of "opus signinum" floors, and three have evidence of tiled, or "tessellated", floors. Details of an underfloor central heating hypocaust can also be seen, featuring both channelled and pillared systems, as can small finds from the site.

The villa is adjacent to Orpington railway station, and is not far from Lullingstone Roman Villa, near Eynsford, Kent.

Discovery

The site was discovered in 1926, when workmen were preparing a driveway for some new council offices, and unearthed some Roman artefacts. Preliminary archaeological investigations at the time established the existence of the villa, but the site was not fully investigated until 1988, when further work was carried out by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit (KARU). Details of their findings were published in a book in 1996.^[1] The site is protected within a modern building.

Gallery

Hypocaust
Floor

References

^ Brian Philp: The Roman villa site at Orpington, Kent. Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover 1996, ISBN 0-947831-13-4.

External links

Media related to Crofton Roman Villa at Wikimedia Commons

[1] Brian Philp: The Roman villa site at Orpington, Kent. Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover 1996, ISBN 0-947831-13-4.

[1]

v t e Roman visitor sites in the UK
Villas	Bignor Brading Chedworth Crofton Dover Painted House Fishbourne Great Witcombe Littlecote Lullingstone Newport North Leigh Piddington Rockbourne Sparsholt Wroxeter
Forts & military	Ambleside Roman Fort Arbeia Banks East Turret Binchester Birdoswald Burgh Castle Caerleon Chesters Derventio Dover Castle Eboracum Hardknott Roman Fort Housesteads Lancaster Lunt Carvoran Roman Army Museum Over Burrow (Lancaster) Pevensey Castle Portchester Castle Ribchester Richborough Segedunum Venta Icenorum Vindolanda
Towns	Aldborough Roman Site Chichester Colchester Corbridge Silchester Venta Icenorum St Albans Wroxeter
Museums	Canterbury Roman Museum Carvoran Roman Army Museum Caerleon Roman Fortress and Baths Colchester Castle Museum Corinium Museum Jewry Wall Museum National Roman Legion Museum Ribchester Senhouse Roman Museum Trimontium Trust (Melrose) Verulamium Museum
Other sites	Bath Roman Baths Benwell Roman temple Caerleon Roman Baths Chester Roman Amphitheatre Jewry Wall, Leicester Welwyn Roman Baths York Roman Baths

v t e London Borough of Bromley
Districts	Anerley Aperfield Beckenham Berry's Green Bickley Biggin Hill Bromley Bromley Common Chelsfield Chislehurst Coney Hall Crystal Palace Cudham Downe Eden Park Elmers End (including Upper Elmers End) Elmstead Farnborough Foxbury Goddington Green Street Green Hayes Hazelwood Hockenden Horns Green Keston Kevington Leaves Green Locksbottom Longlands Luxted Mottingham New Beckenham Orpington (including: Broom Hill, Crofton, Derry Downs and Ramsden) Park Langley Penge Petts Wood Plaistow Poverest Pratt's Bottom Ruxley St Mary Cray St Paul's Cray Shortlands Single Street Southborough South Street Sundridge Sydenham Upper Norwood West Wickham Widmore
Attractions	Bethlem Gallery Bethlem Museum of the Mind Bromley Little Theatre Chislehurst Caves Churchill Theatre Crofton Roman Villa Crystal Palace Crystal Palace Bowl Crystal Palace Dinosaurs Down House St Blaise's Well
Parks and open spaces	Betts Park Chislehurst Common Crofton Wood Croydon Road Recreation Ground Crystal Palace Park Cuckoo Wood Downe Bank Elmstead Wood Hayes Common High Elms Country Park Jubilee Country Park Kelsey Park Keston Common Norman Park Ruxley Gravel Pits Saltbox Hill Scadbury Park Sundridge Park The Warren West Kent Golf Course nature reserve
Places of worship	Bromley Reform Synagogue St Botolph's Church, Ruxley St Edmund's Church, Beckenham St George's Church, Beckenham St John the Evangelist's Church, Penge St Mark's Church, Bromley St Mary's Church, Chislehurst St Mary's Church, Downe St Mary the Virgin, Hayes St Peter and St Paul's Church, Bromley
Constituencies	Beckenham Bromley and Chislehurst Lewisham West and Penge Orpington
Rail stations and tram stops	Anerley Avenue Road Beckenham Road Beckenham Junction Bickley Birkbeck Bromley North Bromley South Chelsfield Chislehurst Clock House Crystal Palace Eden Park Elmers End Elmstead Woods Hayes Kent House Knockholt Lower Sydenham New Beckenham Orpington Penge East Penge West Petts Wood Ravensbourne St Mary Cray Shortlands Sundridge Park West Wickham
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