The Roman Painted House In Dover

The Roman Painted House in Dover

During the holiday I dragged Bill, my long-suffering husband, to the Roman Painted House in Dover.

I d been there as a child but my memories were ruined when my sister forced me against my will to look at a skeleton on display downstairs, hidden away in a niche. Much to her bemused annoyance I d run out crying in hysterics and had refused to go back inside despite the rain. We even have pictures of this. I can only say in my defence that I was a difficult and imaginative child plus I d also recently seen the film Jason and the Argonauts. I d been fascinated but also terrified by the fighting skeletons which emerged when the king had scattered the Hydra s teeth on the ground after Jason and his men steal the fleece. So, I can only presume my irrational fear came from the fact that I didn t want to see a proper skeleton in real life, in case well, in case it woke up and came after me. I should add that I had nightmares after this visit and my mum had stern words with my sister who was actually about thirty at the time, so should really have known better.

When I was in my twenties and in my first year of teaching, I took a year three class to the Roman Painted House. It was actually the first trip I d ever organised on my own. Fortunately, it went smoothly and the children enjoyed themselves. It also laid to rest many of the bad memories I had of my own visit. I made myself look at Fred the skeleton, who was still there and hadn t moved. By then I d seen a few skeletons and they didn t hold as much fear for me, in fact I was almost blas about it, but I made sure that no child was forced to look at him if they were at all unsure or hesitant. And of course, most of them weren t, so it was just me then.

Ever since I started writing about the Custodians, I ve been desperate go back to Rome for research purposes. We d been all set to go a couple of years ago and we d been about to book the flights, when the boiler broke down and died after only five years since we d had it installed. The money we d put aside for our trip to the Eternal City was hurriedly withdrawn and given to the nice plumber who came out on Easter Monday to replace it.

We saved up again but now we can afford to go we have a diabetic cat who needs insulin twice a day and another cat who was supposed to have died from lymphoma eighteen months ago. So though we d both love to go on holiday we daren t leave the animals.

It s actually jolly lucky for us the Romans made their presence felt here in this part of England where we live. I ve been around most of the British Isles and visited many Roman remains but I d never really paid that much attention. Certainly not to the level of detail I m interested in now. So, in the holidays Bill and I are gradually visiting as many Roman sites as possible.

We d recently spent a couple of hours in the Canterbury Roman Museum, which is well worth a visit. But I hadn t been to Dover recently and he d never been to the Roman Painted House. (We now live tin Dover-Ed)

Dover was originally known by the Romans as Dubris or Portus Dubris and Dubrae. It s been a port since Roman times due to being situated on the estuary of the River Dour. It was also the site Julius Caesar had initially chosen as his landing place for his invasion of Britain because of its proximity to Europe and it being the only low land for several miles on either side of the white cliffs. Unfortunately for Caesar the Celts were also aware of this and when he arrived with his fleet, the massed forces of Britons standing on the overlooking hills and cliffs dissuaded him from landing there. So, he very sensibly sailed around the coast for another seven miles until he found an open beach where no one was waiting to welcome him.

Under Roman control it soon became an important military, mercantile and cross-channel port. It was also, along with Rutupiae, now known as Richborough, one of the starting points of the Roman Road known to us as Watling Street.

Dubris was one of the bases for the Roman fleet, which was known in the northern waters as the Classis Britannica. In time, when the Saxons started harrying the east coast of Britain it became one of the nine forts of the Saxon Shore and was garrisoned by the Milites Tungrecani who were based at what is now Dover Castle.

The Roman Painted House was discovered in 1970 when Roman remains were unearthed during the construction of a road in the middle of Dover. An eight-week excavation followed by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit led by Brian Philp. To the unit s delight they found a Roman mansio which they believe had been built in 200AD. After its discovery the Kent Unit promoted a tourist-preservation scheme and the Roman Painted House, as it came to be known, was opened to the public in 1977.

Since then according to the website there have been over 700,000 visitors who have seen this amazing find. It s only open 150 days of the year and is staffed entirely by volunteers, some of whom were part of the original dig.

Over the years the Roman Painted House has won four national awards, including "The Best Preservation of an Archaeological Site in Britain" (Country Life Award). "Outstanding Tourist Enterprise" (B.T.A. Award) and "Museum of the Year Award". The Unit also won the famous Silver Trowel Award, presented to it by H R H Prince Charles.

http://theRomanpaintedhouse.org.uk/

The site is actually part of a large mansio or hostel for government officials crossing the channel. It stood outside the great naval fort of the Classis Britannica who were there to protect the ships travelling back and forth between Britain and Gaul. It s believed they also carried building supplies up to the north of the country to aid the construction of Hadrian s Wall.

In AD 270 the mansio was demolished so that the fleet could build another larger fort on the site. But when the Romans built the new boundary wall, they didn t destroy the buildings next to it they simply dropped loads of earth and rubble on top to create a new rampart. This action actually preserved the parts of the mansio that had been covered and forgotten about, which is why the site has been called Britain s buried Pompeii.

The Romans rarely destroyed their buildings, preferring to build over them. This is understandable given how thick and strong they built their walls and they didn t have bulldozers either, so it s really the only thing they could have done.

The burial of part of the mansio by the Roman army resulted in the unique survival of over 400 square feet of painted plaster, the most extensive ever found north of the Alps.

Above a lower dado of either red or green you can still see exquisitely painted panels which are framed by fluted columns. The columns sit on projecting bases above a stage, producing a clear 3-D effect. Overall twenty-eight panels survive in part, and each has a motif relating to Bacchus, the Roman god of wine.

Though I d been to the Roman Painted House before, I don t think I d ever really appreciated what I was seeing. It was like going back in time and quite moving to witness the actual size of the rooms I d spent so much time researching and writing about. I could definitely imagine my characters in these places talking and drinking. In a way I felt like a voyeur spying on my own creations. Which I know is weird, as they re not real people. But this was their time and I had no right to observe or see their world. That s how impressive these surviving rooms were. It felt as if I could almost step back in time to when these rooms would have been filled with life and laughter.

Bill and I thought that the hypocaust system was one of the most astounding aspects of the preservation. Because the walls survive to a height of between four and six feet it s possible to see a substantial amount of the central heating system. I hadn t realised that the inner walls would have been hollow to allow the hot air to rise. You could clearly see the vertical wall flues that would have made this building incredibly warm almost two millennia ago. We also saw the large arched flues outside the mansio where they made fires which then provided the hot air under the floor and up the walls of the building. These were big enough for a very small child to crawl into so they could be cleaned but it must have been a hellish job.

The exhibition itself is a time capsule. It was created in the 1970s and that is evident in the furniture and information zones around the site. What some might find dated and old-fashioned, Bill and I found charming and a throwback to a lost time when people read and digested information without having to wear unreliable headsets or squint to read passages thanks to the glaring bright lights.

There are over thirty display panels which tell the story of the discovery of the Roman Painted House and explain how and why the mansio was so well preserved.

They also have many artefacts on display, which are supported with detailed information for those who like to get down to the nitty-gritty. We were both astounded at the size of the roof tiles and the water pipes. They were huge.

I ll confess I often find museums boring and can whiz around them in half the time most people do. But I read every single panel and notice in this place. I especially liked the facial reconstruction of a Roman girl s skull found only a few miles away. She could have been anyone we see or know today.

On the upper levels, they have touch tables for children with finds from the excavations, such as pottery, bones and tiles. Families can also try their hand at brass rubbing on a variety of figures, both large and small. I desperately wanted to have a go at the Roman games they had for people to play. I d written about them so was keen to try them for myself, but a family were firmly ensconced. No matter, it gave me another excuse to go back at a later date so I can challenge Bill to a game.

Of course, Fred s there as well, the infamous skeleton who isn t actually Roman at all but a medieval skeleton found in the nearby St Martin-le-Grand church. The volunteers who run the site nicknamed him "Fred". He s not scary at all. Though I didn t see him this time. Okay, so I m still a wuss.

You can also see some of the remains of the Saxon Shore fort where the Classis Britannia was based, and which was built on top of the rest of the mansio. Although only a small section of the wall remains, it s nevertheless impressive. If you want to see more of it, you have to go to Dover Library and Discovery Centre which used to be the White Cliffs Experience. There s also another part of the fort that s visible but it s under a pub off Market Street which was built on and named after the Roman Quay.

For more Roman remains there are the two Roman lighthouses known as the Pharos. Some believe they date back to AD 50, only seven years after the Roman invasion of AD 43. These can be found on the two Heights , the Eastern where you ll also find Dover Castle and Western Heights where little remains of the Roman building.

Whilst we were at the Roman Painted House, we had the privilege of talking to Brian Philp himself. He was the lead archaeologist during the excavations back in 1970 and still runs the Roman Painted House today. He s written numerous books on the subject as well as several research volumes on other Roman sites in Kent. He s an amazing font of knowledge and he gives talks to tourists, schools and academics and is understandably well respected by local archaeologists for his dedication and passion.

I can only thank him for spending the time to talk with me and answering the many questions I had. His knowledge and input inspired me to base a book in Dubris because he knew so much about the site, the town and Roman Britain as well. Thanks to him, I know that a friend of Hadrian was in charge of the port and the Classis Britannia at the time the emperor came to Britain. I always feel that it adds some extra authenticity to a story if you include real people who were genuinely there at the time you re writing about.

Brian and his team do an amazing job. The museum is a wonderful undervalued gem and part of our cultural heritage. It relies on volunteers who manage the site every day apart from Sunday and Mondays from June to September. It s thanks to their dedication that the site is still open and accessible to people who it relies on to keep it open.

The excavation is one of the most important in the country and the exhibition itself is a slice of a time past. I think it s important to keep that charming and passionate atmosphere which harks back to a gentler but equally passionate age. It s a double slice of history which unfortunately is now under threat.

I agree with Brian Philp when he says that "Countries that destroy their past deserve no future".

Over the years it s survived many attempts to close it down from businessmen who want to build over the prime land it occupies in the middle of Dover, but it s withstood those attacks and I really hope it continues to do so.

Bill and I will be going back. Brian has suggested that I can promote some of my books with them and I ll give the Roman Painted House some copies of the story I base there so they can put it on display with the other books they have for sale.

This place gets under your skin, so I can understand why Brian and his team willingly give their free time to ensure this part of our history isn t lost and covered over.

Please, if you come to the South East of England visit this charming and forgotten gem. It desperately needs the patronage of visitors if it s to survive for another forty years.

I ll finish this post with the message at the bottom of the web page, as I think it sums up the dedication and passion of the people involved with this wonderful and undervalued site.

"This major tourist attraction is managed and staffed entirely by volunteers, who have worked here for the past 39 years. There is no paid staff. Occasionally, through illness or other problems, some volunteers may not be available as planned and (rarely) days may be missed. If your visit involves a long journey, you might consider phoning the Painted House in advance to ensure that it`s open when you arrive.