Roman Villa Unearthed With Underfloor Heating

In the coastal town of Brading on the Isle of White there has recently been an intriguing discovery. Victorian architects previously excavated a site that they thought to be a barn, however an Oxford based archaeological team have revisited and revealed that it is something much more exciting.

They have discovered one of the highest profile Roman villas ever on the British isles. The site is the equivalent size of an Olympic swimming pool and must have been the residence of a person of great importance. It is perhaps too great a task to unveil the identity of the high flying Roman who took residence there but they had all the mod cons of the time, including the latest in ancient underfloor heating technology.

The presence of an underfloor heating system was one of the crucial factors in establishing the status of the residence, as other large structures could account for the foundations, however underfloor heating systems were reserved for the very wealthy. The hypocaust is a system that passes heat or steam from a furnace outside, under the floor which is raised on small pillars, spreading heat throughout the house.

The hypocausts were a far cry from contemporary DIY electric underfloor heating kits as they were complex systems and in Aril 2007 it was voted the most important heating invention of all time by the British Heating and Ventilation Association. The intricacies of the heating system cannot yet be explored as funding had not been secured for the complete excavation.

It is estimated at 250,000GBP to complete the dig and until that time the site will need to be filled back in, so that the remains may be preserved until a time when the funding is in place. The site is over 18 centuries old making the hypocaust one of the oldest in the country, luckily today we have underfloor heating much more readily available!