ISLAND HISTORY
remains.
Designed by a local
architect, built by an Island
firm, finished on time and
under budget, Brading Roman
Villa won a Civic Trust Award
in 2005 – there is a special
awards display cabinet in the
visitor centre. The centre is
open 364 days of the year and
a family ticket admits five
people with something for all
ages including an area with
models for children to enjoy.
This year the Oglander
Roman Trust, the local charity
that administers Brading
Roman Villa, is planning
new excavations. It is the
first major archaeological
investigation on the 16-hectare
(40 acre) site for 128 years. In
August one of Britain’s leading
archaeologists, Sir Barry
Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor
of European Archaeology
at Oxford University, will
be leading a comprehensive
investigation on the site
with a team of 20 graduate
archaeologists..
Called ‘The Brading
Big Dig’, the Trustees are
appealing for help to fund the
three-to-five year project and
Kenneth Hicks, one of the
Trustees, estimates that around
£55,000 is urgently needed
for the first phase in August.
Sir Barry will first focus on
the barn-house where our
anonymous Romano-British
farming family struggled for
so many years to secure a
successful living from field,
furrow and the export of
Vectensian commodities.
The next archaeological
target will be the later
residence where the team hopes
to unravel the life and times
of the most successful owner
of the villa. This was a man
who was able to commission
intricate mosaics conveying
his views on crops, seasons,
navigation and the movements
of the stars in the dark and
un-polluted vault of Brading’s
ancient night sky.
During the excavations
visitors will have access to
view the site with regular
guided tours. Many of the
archaeological team will be
volunteers and you can help
them to reveal this fascinating
period in the Island’s history
by donating towards the
cost of ‘The Big Dig’ and
supporting one of the most
important Roman villas in
Western Europe. Imagine for
a moment how Captain John
Thorp felt when he scraped
away the soil in 1880 and
discovered the mosaics, the
thrill he experienced seeing
images hidden for hundreds of
years. In August, by helping
the Oglander Roman Trust
to raise money for this new
excavation, we wil