Villa – Page 2 – Journeys of Heart and Mind

Image of the day – 43

It would have been a delight to walk on a floor of this sort, especially with the underfloor heating that wealthy Romans had in their villas and town houses.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Although most of us will have seen Roman tessellated pavements in museums or at excavation sites, few people will have seen a recently laid floor of this kind. What did a new mosaic floor look like? It looked like this one at The Newt in Somerset!

It would have been a delight to walk on a floor of this sort, especially with the underfloor heating that wealthy Romans had in their villas and town houses. Cool in hot weather, but luxuriously warm in a British winter when the furnace outside had been lit and was being tended by a slave or servant, a warm floor was a wonderful thing indeed.

In the upper left, you will notice some musical instruments placed on stools, when the musicians return in a moment they’ll pick up the instruments, sit on the stools, and begin playing. And then the Master and his dinner guests will arrive to enjoy music until they go through to the triclinium for the meal to be served.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. (If you don’t see those links, click the article’s title above the main photo and they will appear.) Send a link to friends who might enjoy the article or benefit from it – Thanks! My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome and encourages me to write more often!

Image of the day – 35

When natural food supplies are plentiful, it may be better to let them find their own.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

This young robin perched on the back of a chair at our table in the cafe of the Great Glasshouse. Clearly hoping for some dropped particles of food, but disappointed as we only had coffees at the time.

Is it good to feed wild birds? Sometimes this is a no-brainer. In the short, cold days of winter when food may be hard to come by, a bowl of tepid water and some fruit, seeds, fat balls or dried insect larvae may be just the thing they need to avoid dehydration, starvation or hypothermia. But when natural food supplies are plentiful, it may be better to let them find their own. Here’s some good advice from the RSPB.

Coincidentally, my second Image of the day was also of a robin.

Images from our Irish holiday 2024

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Irish holiday images:

28th Jul – Welsh Botanic Garden, Robin, Fishguard
29th Jul – Wicklow Mts, Glendalough, Powerscourt, Rose, Greystones
30th Jul – Liffey, Temple Bar, St Patrick’s Cathedral
31st Jul – Newgrange, Battle of the Boyne
1st Aug – Monasterboice, Mourne, Thrift, Window
2nd Aug – Spelga Dam, Hydrangea, Pipework, Lough Neagh
3rd Aug – Coagh, Springhill, Portrush
4th Aug – Beach at Portrush
5th Aug – Giant’s Causeway, Carrick-a-Rede, Portrush

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

Image of the day – 33

There would have been the sounds of birds and fragrance from the garden, but no distant traffic sounds or planes passing overhead.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

At the back of the villa was a garden area. In the reconstruction it’s been planted with both decorative plants as well as dual purpose plants like rosemary with value in the kitchen as well as looking and smelling good in the garden.

The villa was built in a position where it is surrounded by hilly ground with a longer view in one direction. A great choice then as now. And on a clear night, with none of the light pollution we’re used to these days, the sky would have been a glorious sight, sprinkled liberally with stars and a stunning vista of the Milky Way spread out across it.

Imagine, if you will, a sunny day with the slaves tending the garden and the cook hunting for the right combination of herbs for the evening dining in the villa. There would have been the sounds of birds and fragrance from the garden, but no distant traffic sounds or planes passing overhead. This would have been a beautiful and peaceful place for the wealthy, but a place of daily duties and hard work for the ever-present slaves who kept the place clean, tidy, and working well.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

Image of the day – 32

There was no TV to watch, but conversations would have covered all sorts of topics, no doubt – from household issues, to travel plans.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

We’re back inside the villa now. A comfortable space, a nice place to sit, a small table to put down a cup. Notice how Roman walls were painted to simulate architectural features; there’s less structure here than at first appears, plain flat walls are made to look like carved pillars, a border at the top and elaborate skirting boards. Instead of hanging pictures, these were usually painted directly onto the wall plaster as well.

After nightfall, the only light available would have been small lamps burning oil, normally olive oil. A stand for two pendant lamps stands conveniently between the ‘sofa’ and the little table. There are two more lampstands in the dining room.

There was no TV to watch, but conversations would have covered all sorts of topics, no doubt – from household issues, to travel plans, how best to manage a difficult child, the weather, the state of farm crops, planning for an expected guest’s arrival, or the coming journey back to Corinium or Londinium.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

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Useful? Interesting?

Image of the day – 31

it’s easy to imagine activities going on, a ploughman with oxen turning over the soil for planting a new crop, a household slave emerging from the house.

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What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every day (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

This is an external view of the Villa at The Newt with its agricultural outbuildings, some of the cultivated land, and woodland in the background. The remains of the original, Roman villa have been covered over for protection and are slightly beyond and to the right of this view.

There are no fireplaces inside the villa and no chimneys externally. A furnace slightly below floor level and fed with timber from outside the building generated hot smoke and air that circulated under the floors and up through channels in the walls, exiting below the eaves of the roof.

Looking at this view, it’s easy to imagine activities going on, a ploughman with oxen turning over the soil for planting a new crop, a household slave emerging from the house to shake out crumbs from the dining room couch covers, a dog barking somewhere, the family chatting as they come back from a walk, or the sound of the children playing outside in the sunshine.

Roman Britain, beginning half way through the 1st century CE and finally petering out in the early to mid 5th century, involved a built infrastructure that would have seemed quite familiar to us in some ways. The Saxon times that followed involved structures quite similar to those of the pre-Roman Iron Age and particularly the rectangular structures of the Bronze Age. Most buildings had wooden frameworks with the use of wattle and daub infill and thatch, though the Saxons built in stone for important structures like churches. A good place to see these varying styles is Butser Ancient Farm in Hampshire.

See the previous Image of the day for an interior view of the dining room.

Images of the Roman villa

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Roman villa images:

Ceiling, Desk, Dining room, Exterior1, Exterior2, Garden, Kitchen, Mosaic floor, Office, Sitting room

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >