Roman Museum
Encyclopedia
For the National Museum of Wales see National Roman Legionary Museum

The Roman Museum in Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

, houses a Roman pavement
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 which is a scheduled monument, in the remains of a Roman courtyard house
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...

 which itself is a grade I listed building. The pavement was discovered after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 bombing, and has been open to the public since 1946. The museum was established in 1961, but it has been under threat of closure as of 2009. It houses many excavated artifacts from Roman Canterbury
Durovernum Cantiacorum
Durovernum Cantiacorum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Canterbury, located in the English county of Kent. It occupied a strategic location on Watling Street, at the convergence of the roads coming from the rest of the Roman Empire via the ports of Dubris ,...

 together with reconstructions of the Roman town.

Management

As of 2009 Krystyna Matyjaszkiewicz was Gallery Exhibitions manager for Canterbury City Council galleries and museums service. She said that the museum aims to show what the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 city was like, and to reveal the secret city beneath the feet of the visitor, thereby educating the public to appreciate local history. Each step by which one descends to the Roman pavement represents 100 years-worth of archaeological layers down to the 300 AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....

 layer of the pavement. Ken Reedie has been curator of Canterbury museums since the early 1970s.

Design

The museum was designed not only to involve the public in its own history and heritage, but also to commemorate and celebrate the many archaeologists who have been wresting the history of Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

 from the soil since about 1857, when John Brent became one of the founder members of Kent Archaeological Society
Kent Archaeological Society
The Kent Archaeological Society was founded in 1857 to promote the study and publication of archaeology and history, especially that pertaining to the ancient county of Kent in England...

.

Background

In the first century AD
Anno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....

 the Cantiaci
Cantiaci
The Cantiaci or Cantii were a Celtic people living in Britain before the Roman conquest, and gave their name to a civitas of Roman Britain. They lived in the area now called Kent, in south-eastern England...

 were the inhabitants of Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...

 when the Romans
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 captured a settlement on the River Stour
River Stour, Kent
The River Stour is the river in Kent, England that flows into the English Channel at Pegwell Bay. Above Plucks Gutter, where the Little Stour joins it, the river is normally known as the Great Stour. The upper section of the river, above its confluence with the East Stour at Ashford is sometimes...

 and later called it Durovernum Cantiacorum
Durovernum Cantiacorum
Durovernum Cantiacorum was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is known as Canterbury, located in the English county of Kent. It occupied a strategic location on Watling Street, at the convergence of the roads coming from the rest of the Roman Empire via the ports of Dubris ,...

, or stronghold of the Cantiaci by an Alder marsh. The new settlement was laid out as a partially grid-patterned town with a theatre
Roman theatre (structure)
The characteristics of Roman to those of the earlier Greek theatres due in large part to its influence on the Roman triumvir Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus. Much of the architectural influence on the Romans came from the Greeks, and theatre structural design was no different from other buildings...

, temple
Roman temple
Ancient Roman temples are among the most visible archaeological remains of Roman culture, and are a significant source for Roman architecture. Their construction and maintenance was a major part of ancient Roman religion. The main room housed the cult image of the deity to whom the temple was...

, forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...

 and baths
Thermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...

. In the late third century, to defend against attack from barbarians a town wall was built with seven gates. The town then covered 130 acre
Acre
The acre is a unit of area in a number of different systems, including the imperial and U.S. customary systems. The most commonly used acres today are the international acre and, in the United States, the survey acre. The most common use of the acre is to measure tracts of land.The acre is related...

s or 53 hectare
Hectare
The hectare is a metric unit of area defined as 10,000 square metres , and primarily used in the measurement of land. In 1795, when the metric system was introduced, the are was defined as being 100 square metres and the hectare was thus 100 ares or 1/100 km2...

s.

Roman Canterbury reached the height of its development around 300 AD. The Roman townhouse
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...

 which contained the pavement was surrounded by public buildings. The temple precinct was partially excavated in 1976-1982, but the temple itself was not found. The townhouse associated with the pavement may have been used until about 410 AD when the Roman administration left Britain.

Discovery, protection and display

The pavement was discovered after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 bombing on 1 June 1942, and excavations were carried out by Audrey Williams and Sheppard Frere
Sheppard Frere
Professor Sheppard Sunderland Frere, CBE, FSA, FBA is a former British historian and archaeologist who studied the Roman Empire.-Biography:...

 between 1945 and 1946. Public access was permitted from 1946, and the site was visited by royalty
British Royal Family
The British Royal Family is the group of close relatives of the monarch of the United Kingdom. The term is also commonly applied to the same group of people as the relations of the monarch in her or his role as sovereign of any of the other Commonwealth realms, thus sometimes at variance with...

. Between 1958 and 1961 it was re-excavated by Dr. F. Jenkins, and the Roman Pavement Museum was established above it. The museum was re-established as the Roman Museum in 1994 after refurbishment. It is listed at Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...

 as a scheduled monument, number KE89. It was excavated again in 1990 by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust
Canterbury Archaeological Trust
Canterbury Archaeological Trust is an independent charity formed in 1975 to undertake rescue excavation, research, publication and the presentation of the results of its work for the benefit of the public.The Trust's main activities are to:...

. This is the best local example of a Roman townhouse
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...

; they found that this masonry building had undergone many alterations over a long period, adding several rooms, corridors and mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...

s before abandonment in the 5th century. Parts of one of the largest theatres in Britain had been located beneath nearby streets and buildings. Substantial elements of public baths have been excavated underneath modern buildings in St Margaret's Street. Enigmatic traces of the Forum Basilica can be found under the High Street.

Mosaic pavement

Generations of building at Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....

 have raised the level of the town since Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 times so that the pavement
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...

, with preserved remains of a town house
Domus
In ancient Rome, the domus was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. They could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories...

 with hypocaust
Hypocaust
A hypocaust was an ancient Roman system of underfloor heating, used to heat houses with hot air. The word derives from the Ancient Greek hypo meaning "under" and caust-, meaning "burnt"...

, is exhibited in situ underground. The scheduled monument listing describes the pavement thus: "The excavations of 1945−1946 uncovered a series of three mosaic panels which decorate the remains of a corridor of a Roman house". It dates from around 300 AD and is preserved with an air conditioning
Air conditioning
An air conditioner is a home appliance, system, or mechanism designed to dehumidify and extract heat from an area. The cooling is done using a simple refrigeration cycle...

 system.

Excavated artefacts

Excavated objects such as household deities
Household deity
A household deity is a deity or spirit that protects the home, looking after the entire household or certain key members. It has been a common belief in pagan religions as well as in folklore across many parts of the world....

, including one in the form of a horse, are shown here. There is a lot of Roman glass including some decorated examples, silver spoons, an axe, tweezers, a plumb weight and dice. The 5th century AD silver hoard
Hoard
In archaeology, a hoard is a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground. This would usually be with the intention of later recovery by the hoarder; hoarders sometimes died before retrieving the hoard, and these surviving hoards may be uncovered by...

 was excavated at Westgate Gardens in 1962. Military artefacts include metal parts of cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...

 harness
Horse harness
A horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equine to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon or sleigh. Harnesses may also be used to hitch animals to other loads such as a plow or canal boat....

 which have been reconstructed with new leather straps and a pair of cavalry swords (spathae
Spatha
The spatha was a type of straight sword, measuring between , in use throughout first millennium AD Europe, and in the territory of the Roman Empire until about 600 AD. Later swords from 600 AD to 1000 AD are recognizable derivatives, though they are not spathae.The spatha was used in gladiatorial...

) recovered from a double burial, possibly a murder. Roof tiles and floor tile
Tile
A tile is a manufactured piece of hard-wearing material such as ceramic, stone, metal, or even glass. Tiles are generally used for covering roofs, floors, walls, showers, or other objects such as tabletops...

s are exhibited; one tile is impressed with the mark, "I, Cabrianus, made this tile". Another tile bears a dog's footprint, made while the clay was wet.

Reconstructions

The museum contains a reconstructed Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 house with kitchen, and a Roman market place - probably situated in the forum
Forum (Roman)
A forum was a public square in a Roman municipium, or any civitas, reserved primarily for the vending of goods; i.e., a marketplace, along with the buildings used for shops and the stoas used for open stalls...

 - with cobbler
Shoemaking
Shoemaking is the process of making footwear. Originally, shoes were made one at a time by hand. Traditional handicraft shoemaking has now been largely superseded in volume of shoes produced by industrial mass production of footwear, but not necessarily in quality, attention to detail, or...

, haberdasher
Haberdasher
A haberdasher is a person who sells small articles for sewing, such as buttons, ribbons, zips, and other notions. In American English, haberdasher is another term for a men's outfitter. A haberdasher's shop or the items sold therein are called haberdashery.-Origin and use:The word appears in...

, greengrocer
Greengrocer
A greengrocer or fruiterer is a retail trader in fruit and vegetables; that is, in green groceries. Greengrocer is primarily a British and Australian term, and greengrocers' shops were once common in suburbs, towns and villages...

 and fast food seller. The cobbler exhibit is a consequence of archaeologists finding cut-out pieces of leather for sandal
Sandal
Sandals are an open type of outdoor footwearSandal may also refer to:* Sandal Castle, site of the Battle of Wakefield in the Wars of the Roses* Sandal, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England* Sandal, Afghanistan* Šandal, village in Slovakia...

s. The original cut-out leather pieces are exhibited along with reconstructions of the sandals being made. These sandals had reinforced soles. A computer screen demonstrates the possible appearance of the house in Roman Britain
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

, with images of the pavement being excavated. The time-tunnel display explains the end of the Roman occupation
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...

 of the town, and the time-view painting displays Roman Canterbury as it was in later periods.

Interactive features

A computer game allows the visitor to test his or her skills in relation to Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....

 technology. Before leaving, the visitor can handle actual Roman artefacts, alongside a guide to identifying the objects. For children there are discovery trays, containing mouse bones and shells, and a facility for constructing arches. The "Make your own magnetic mosaics" and "Rotten Roman Rubbish" environmental detective game are intended to entertain and educate all ages.

Listing details

This is a Grade I listed building with SMR number TR15NE50-MKE4540 in location TR 15005778. The official description as listed is as follows:

Roman Courtyard House. Site of a large courtyard house c100 AD. A pavement is preserved in a basement and open to the public.Scheduled. (1-2) Remains of Roman town house, St George's Street. Grade 1. Part of a Roman town house. There are remains of tessellated pavements c300 AD and a hypocaust system. Brick walls about 3ft in height and 13 pillars. Scheduled as on AM. (3) The Butchery Lane Roman building was first excavated in 1945–6 by Audrey Williams and Sheppard Frere. In 1958–61 the cellars in which the building was found was enlarged and converted into the 'Roman Pavement' Museum. Several more walls and other features were discovered by Dr. F. Jenkins during this work (see illustration card). A hoard of 50 third century cordiate coins was found in the area west of the hypocaust stokehole in the Roman building in Butchery Lane. (4-6) TR 150577. Roman site, Butchery Lane. Scheduled No 89. (7)

Other Statuses and Cross-References: Monarch Uid 464392 (Active); Listed Building (I) NAR (Active); Scheduled Monument KENT 89 (Active); National Monuments Record TR 15 NE 50 (Active).

See also

  • Herne Bay Museum
  • Westgate, Canterbury
    Westgate, Canterbury
    The Westgate is a medieval gatehouse in Canterbury, Kent, England. This 60-foot-high western gate of the city wall is the largest surviving city gate in England. Built of Kentish ragstone around 1379, it is the last survivor of Canterbury's seven medieval gates, still well-preserved and one of the...

  • Westgate Hall, Canterbury
    Westgate Hall, Canterbury
    Westgate Hall is a hundred-year-old community hall and dance hall in a Conservation area of Canterbury, Kent, notable for being the subject of extended public controversy since October 2009, when the City of Canterbury budget 2010−2011 threatened to have the building...

  • Whitstable Museum and Gallery
    Whitstable Museum and Gallery
    Whitstable Museum and Gallery is a heritage centre in Whitstable, Kent, and is notable for its displays showing the history of the local oyster trade started by the Romans and of historical diving equipment. It is open on weekdays throughout the year, and on Sundays in summer...


External links

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