This Is Why Fishbourne Palace is Britain's Most Extraordinary Roman Site
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- Опубліковано 22 тра 2024
- In 1960 a man was laying a water pipe underneath the quaint village of Fishbourne near Chichester, West Sussex, when he uncovered what looked like Roman remains.
After he duly reported the discover, the archaeologists were called in and they quickly unearthed more and more prestigious finds. They went on to uncover the largest Roman domestic building ever to be discovered north of the Alps: a palace laid out on imperial lines.
Many questions surrounding the history of this palace remain unanswered; to this day fascinating mysteries remain at Fishbourne Palace.
Recently Dan visited the remarkable Fishbourne Palace and sees, first hand, why it is one of the greatest Roman sites in Britain.
#FisbournePalace #RomanBritain #DanSnow
My father was a civil engineer who knew Aubrey Barrett, the Portsmouth Water Company engineer who found the palace remains. As a consquence, we were allowed to visit he site soon after the dig started which meant I had to peer down some muddy holes in the ground whilst Dad conversed with an enthusiastic young chap whom I now realise was the distinguished archeologist Sir Barry Cunliffe at the very start of his career.
What a wonderful memory to have!
amazing, must feel strange seeing it as it is now?
@@Enhancedlies I have been back a few times over the last 60 years but I find it difficult to connect the muddy holes in ground I saw a small boy with the extensive and fascinating site that is there today. Apart from the mosaics I have always been impressed by the work of the archeologists and botanists who have been able work out some of the design and planting of the gardens which in themselves are a delight.
Wow Bruce. What a beautiful memory, definitely something to tell your grandchildren.
Wonderful, la grandezza, la potenza e la gloria di Roma è aeterna, Roma ha conquistato,dominato, costruito e civilizzato, Roma invicta, Roma caput mundi .........
"The engineer" got for the credit for discovering the Roman Villa, but, it was in fact my uncle Tony Osborne who was operating the digger that turned the soil and saw the first evidence - not the bloke in charge!
That’s interesting. The “engineer” in charge (actually site manager, gang leader) was my father Aubrey Barrett. He’s 90 we’ve just been discussing this. He says that although Tony Osborne rings a bell he wasn’t the digger driver. He could be wrong of course as it was a long time ago. Your uncle, did he live in Emsworth and was he was childless by chance? My Dad had to report it as human remains were found. Almost a big a mystery as the palace!
@@PKandL Tony lived in Hunston, he died earlier this year. He told me his story about the discovery of the Roman Villa. I'll check the details, I'll ask his son. ☺
@@chrisbenham1247 sorry to hear that. Mum and dad have spent the last hour discussing it. Name rings a bell but I guess time fades the memory. Laying a mains pipe through a field, body turns up. That’s when the authorities were called. If dad remembers (eventually) I’ll let you know
So often is the case.
In general the person who is given the credit is the one who discovers something and knows what it is he has found. With all due respect to your Uncle Tony, chances are that, although he may have dug it up and been the first to lay eyes on it, he probably didn't know exactly what he was looking at.
I grew up a few miles away from Fishbourne Roman Palace. My parents still live in the area and their garden backs off onto farmer's fields which eventually come to where the palace is situated. For years I have been meaning to do some metal detecting, starting from my parents garden and across the fields towards the palace. It's safe to assume that with such an important Roman site nearby there must be a wealth of as yet undiscovered archeology in the general area.
Of course
I live next door in Chichester (known as Noviomagus Reginorum in Roman times) I think a fair few people have had a good headstart on you but, have a go! You never know your luck...
Good luck on your Detecting.👍 💰
I'd go home immediately and rent the best metal detector I could find. Good grief
Meraviglioso, straordinario, la grandezza,la potenza e la gloria di Roma è aeterna, Roma ha conquistato,dominato, costruito e civilizzato, Roma invicta, Roma caput mundi....
And this huge building complex was totally lost and unknown. Amazing.
Like the huge buildings now lost in London- an Ampitheater as large as the Colosseum in Rome, a Basilica as large as St, Peter's- all lost.
The central heating may have come from the bath house which probably lies under my neighbour's house and the fires for the heating would have been under my living room. None of us are allowed to dig deeper than 18 inches in our gardens without informing the archaeologists.
I'll be right over
I don't think you were clear about the wooden posts & sunken floor. The wooden posts were cut; the floor was leveled; then the floors were finished with mosaics. The wood under the floor rotted away over time to cause the sunken area.
I got it. But I have watched several hours of Archaeological shows and videos over years. So I understand about what happens to holes left by post. And only the change in the color of the dirt. But you make a very good point for those who hadn't seen that many. I think any of the Time Team watchers got it to. Thanks
I got the meaning of what he said without issue. It isn't really complex.
Thanks for clarifying, thats helped me visualise this place even better. Love you guys, your helping me look at archeological remain in a different light!
I was puzzled by what he said as you can see the tile pattern continuation. Thanks for clarifying.
That was pretty clear to me...
Thrilled to see this documentary. For anyone interested in the maybes and possibles there is a book, The Body in the BathHouse by Lindsey Davis, which is set on the site when the palace was being constructed. She had a lot of help writing it from archaeologists on the site with many of the details of the build and if you want a fictional version of what may have been happening and how it may have been built, rebuilt and changed/rebuilt yet again according to the whims of the owner then I highly recommend reading this book. So glad to finally see images of what it looks like on the ground having only really known the layout and diagrams shown in the book (drawn with help from those working on the site itself).
Visited over 50 yrs ago and impressed then, they've uncovered a lot more since so must go back. Wonder if I'll get in for free next time?
I went there many years ago when i was a child on caravan holidays I am now 67 and live in Australia since 1989. I was born in Portsmouth and lived in Fareham until going to Australia I miss the history I loved it.
No central heating could be that it was warmer in Sussex back then (Roman warm period, growing vines in Lincolnshire etc)...then it got colder
Well... that's possible, but structures of comparable age such as the villa at Chedworth (dating starting from ~120 CE, so 50 years later than Fishbourne) had hypocausta in many rooms.
@@dlevi67
Depends on who they were built for...an Igloo feels warm to the Inuit, but not to someone from the Med...
@@marclawyer2789 That is also true, although there is more evidence than just the villa at Chedworth that hypocausta were fairly common in the South of England in the 1st - 3rd century CE. Fishbourne is more of an exception than a rule in that respect, which is why it is being called out here.
Is it because it was so early and built "in a rush"? Is it because it was built for a purely "local" community who were accustomed to the colder climate of Britain? (Which incidentally, in winter, isn't that much colder than the climate of Central Italy, so I'm not sure I completely buy this as an argument...) Both are possible explanations; climate change as such I think is not likely, as there are multiple examples attesting to the common use of hypocausta in Britain within a period (1st - 4th century CE) when climate was relatively stable.
@@dlevi67 What is CE?
@@JohnyG29 Common Era
GREAT British find. On this palace place. So awesome.
That's good
It's so amazing how much history is beneath our feet.
Amazing. That front door he came through at the beginning didn't look more than twenty years old
The Romans invented double glazing.
I watched it again and the door really looks almost modern. Go figure.
Thank you for Sharing that incredible bit of our History.
👍👌👏 Simply fantastic!
Went there on a school trip in the 70s, loved it.
same :)
Visited there yesterday with my wife. Absolutely amazing!
Thanks for posting and sharing. Very interesting to hear about and see parts of the palace.
Some of those styles would go nice in homes today
Visited Fishbourne Palace a few years back, nearby Bignor Roman Villa is well worth a visit too (I actualy preferd it).
Thanks for giving me a glimpse into my family history.
Just down the road from me. Its worth a visit if you can. That fancy complete mosaic is just incredible to see.
Thanks for sharing this. I had never heard of this area before.
Yes
That's so neat!
Fabulous place..
The mosaics in Tunisia are out of this world done at the height of the Roman empire. You will find that the art of mosaic detail starts to decline about 100ad.
i wonder why? rome still had several good centuries in her ...
Phukin fascinating
imagine looking at an exhibit like this and drawing conclusions from it
Interesting symbolism.
VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY INTERESTING
I live here now fascinating to learn this stuff
In Libya you can walk across Roman artifacts. In Tripoli at the end of September street you can walk under roman arch's containing roman statues!
thats so cool! i wish roman sites were better preserved over time in the uk, almost all settlements and forticiations seem to have been built on throughout the centuries. such a shame.
Emperor Constantine lived here before he Christianized the Roman Empire.
Names have meaning attached to them.
l'm glad you stick to the convention of calling small towns as sleepy corners - the other alternative is that it's a bustling community.
This mosaic will be there long after we're all gone. That's why it's so important to stop squabbling and choose love over conflict. We're here such a short amount of time
The mosaic with Cupid needs a further look. Firstly the fan designs at the corners are odd, the edges around the the mosaic are different too, where the bird is. Three outside lines go one way the fourth goes another. Not shown is the skeletal remains, the outside is just as stunning too.
Been there three times, it's just as stunning. If I'm still breathing next year I'm going again.
Wow
Mr History Hit is fit!
I want to learn and know everything. But everything is constantly being created. So it's endless, as life.
Isn't it wonderful ?
Early, but almost certainly not the earliest dated mosaics in Britain. Although nothing like as big, there are some small pieces of Roman mosaic in Exeter Museum from the Roman military bathhouse there that are earlier - around 65AD.
No heating works? Perhaps it WAS the original Fishbourne Palace built in the 1600's or 1700's but an Italian was likely hired to put down the tiles in a Roman style.
Bignor villa is my favourite
Just because the one mosaic is better quality doesn't actually mean its newer. In ancient Egypt the more precisely made objects are older.
The national trust have now withdrawn concessions required by primary legislation for the 1.8 circa severely disabled and blind who wish to visit these national heritage houses. The national trust was originally set up to allow access for the nation of the national heritage.Recent years they have taken on too many liabilities and have seen a drop in numbers of visitors to the sites. This as a trust gets tax exceptions for the public good the trust brings to all UK citizens. It is argued that they exclude the poorest in society and ignore primary legislation for access of the severely disabled they are in breach of their charity status. They are effectively a commercial organization which no longer qualify for taxpayer exemptions as a trust.
The choice to the organization is to comply with the legal rules concerning the status of a trust and concessions.Or simply change their tax status to a commercial organization and pay full corporation tax.There are believed to be some twenty percent of charities who are commercial organizations in the UK sheltering as charities which are in fact commercial organizations. The voters are up in arms about this change and want the charitable status withdrawn immediately and full corporation tax paid to the treasury as a result.
Roman town drunk when asked the backstory: "I'm a failed engineer. My stuff will only last 600 years."
Very first Tile R Us showroom ! Mystery solved 😉
Yo make this famous
✌️👊
shh, don't give the next inhabitant of no10 ideas as for floor redecorations, now that wallpapers turn out to be slightly problematic.
Central heating engineers...Oh you mean the fire slaves, right on
💚💫💜💫💚
Nice
He is rediculously handsome
I would of loved to see this laid I know weird but I bet it was only a few guys doing it and how did they know about this system?? Maybe someone can tell me
Music is too loud
The romans built big solid buildings in Britain but the middle ages are all wood. Odd to see it go backwards.
Only the early middle ages. By the 11th century it's back to big solid buildings. At least some of them.
You're kinda comparing apples and oranges. Large stately buildings in medieval Britain, as well as cathedrals and churches, were often made of stone. Especially in the post-Norman period.
@@merrymachiavelli2041 Well, to be fair, there aren't more than a handful of buildings (or ruins) in Britain dating from between the 5th and the 10th century. Be they churches, palaces or anything else.
@@merrymachiavelli2041 People most often make this historical mistake by arguing "well why wasn't there any other big buildings post rome?". These people must realize most of the roman buildings were created by roman concrete which was make by volcanic deposits only found in italy. When the empire collapsed, and the money left, there were no more funds to make these elaborate buildings. Also too much of a hassle to ship the concrete mixture around outside of italy.
Hmm.
Very little is know, because it wasn't a palace at all, it was a trade market. Its not a mystery why it didn't have heating, the market had its own fires, the fancy tile represents the vendors around it. The wooden pillars was just to support the large roof over it. I'm not sure why that wasn't obvious at first, maybe they wanted to think it was a palace because of the fancy tile work? But that doesn't matter, because even normal roman homes would have that to some degree.
Maybe it was reused later, for adding heat. But the idea that they just made this fancy tile floor that remained, but no other supporting structure survived thinking it was a palace is absurd notion.
Shout a bit louder Dan! The music is overpowering
Good place to linger for hours -
"Have you ever embraced someone dying of plague, Sire?"
It would be helpful for those of us “across the pond” to get a little geography lesson-where is the UK is Rutland?
um Rutland's in the UK.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rutland
@@cha2117 LOL, that much I know. Is it near anything that a non-Brit might know the location of?
In the East Midlands between Leicester and Peterborough. Rutland is a bit of an oddity as it is the smallest mainland English county (Isle of Wight is smaller) and has no major towns at all.
@@julianbailey2749 Thank you! However, I think I’ll have to stop being lazy and look at a map as I have no idea where any of those places are. Though I grew up with a girl whose last name was Wight so I’m sure the Isle is where her family came from originally.
Why do you ask where Rutland is when this video is about a Roman Palace in West Sussex (South East England); close to the Roman city of Chichester. Rutland is East central England, or as I like to call it the “Eastern Cotswolds” - due to its many gorgeous stone villages that are very similar to those in the Cotswolds (just with more thatched roofs).
turns out it was just a mosaic shop...
Seems like Britain has a lot of amateurs who love digging up artifacts, but could give two 💩 about the history. It's all about "hey look how important I am now" instead of "oh maybe that should be studied in situ by an expert".
Plumbers always trying to find an excuse not to do their job…Fecker never ran the waterline
What about a school to teach mosaic craftsmanship?
Perhaps it was a "show home" and training academy for how to build the Roman way?
I love chichester
Big up Chi.
Great idea Dan ,thanks for bringing up the hypercaust! That's what happened when a rave of Nordic tourists may have popped over as mentioned @ 5:30 and burnt down the party venue. Vikings do get a bit feisty on holiday.They hadn't seen a hypocaust before and maybe left a statement , they preferred fighting the English? Who knows, who knows......
This was way before the "Vikings".
@@JohnyG29 So you think it might have been just blatant insurance fraud?
Not Vikings, but Saxon raiders - possibly ancestors of the current inhabitants. The Romans eventually built a chain of coastal forts to watch out for them, under the command of the "Count of the Saxon Shore."
Roman Empire meant PROGRESS and CIVILIZATION....and local globalization ........ LET'S MAKE Roman Empire GREAT AGAIN ☝️😃
I thought the Roman’s kept great records?
went not long ago. Needs a lick of paint tbh
Quentin Tarantino's brother?
The sound is too low, I have several problems listening to him.
Listen and turn the volume up ,although @5:30 the narrator's use of 'raves' up and down the coast.... acid house party Vikings?would be scary 😨
It never was a palace. First mosaic sales shop in Britannia
I bet you didn't have to pay the entrance fee
Roman? Wake up and examine the details of the exquisitely ornate surround of the mosaic tile flooring.
Right. Egyptian. Hang on, Peruvian. Nay, ALIEN!
@@arminhanik4207 no, left. With Mercator projection the seat of power would be west. Certainly prior to 562.
@@arminhanik4207 Arthur 2sailed for Kentucky then with Madoc. Aliens aren't recorded so this is jest? I was reading recorded info.
@@davepowell7168 indeed, clearly British "Celtic" Knot work. And look at the Horse with a fish tail. Clealry depicting the British travels from Troy. The Invasion of Britain by Rome was a Middle age invention. And ofcourse why hasn't Caermead in Wales seen the same treatment? Cause the artwork is even more prominent.
@@taffyducks544 l'm English but was disinformed at school . I just want to know the truth!
Someone should steal some of that and put it in a museum in Athens
you cant steal something that was bought!
How tall are you? You could barely get in the door?
Trojan treasure bellows
Given as a traitor, because he could not get his own way, he invited the Romans over to booster his force, he and his family became puppets of the Roman Empire
It's British not roman.
Another nationalist freak. There's a nest somewhere?
Someone step on your toesies?
Indeed. The Celtic artwork and Floor is proof of this. The Horse and Sea Tail clearly shows the Story of the British travelling From Troy after the Greek Horse trick. History passed down via artwork. Lets not forget about the Celtic Knot work. This is why Caermead in Wales was covered back in, as its artwork if considerably more Prominent and shows good relations between Roman and Briton. Roman invasions was a Middle age creation by Rome and a few other nations in order to relegate Britain and its history into nothing but living in mud huts and running around half naked.
britain? alps? wut?
The largest Roman domestic building ever found North of the Alps. What do you not understand about that.
hi
@Joseph Adler it has like 5 week how do you remember this?
ogniB and out
Something I would love too know is why buildings are no longer standing I’m sure we have some buildings from before 1700 still standing why is it all the romans buildings where destroyed
Almost all buildings from 1700 have been destroyed as well. And the Roman buildings are six-fold older than those ones.
@@sotony7483Huh? There are literally tens of thousands of buildings that predate 1700 in England. If you look at churches alone, there are multiple thousands of them in England that predate 1500, let alone 1700. For example, one ceremonial county in England (Norfolk) has 650 medieval churches (built before 1485) - and that’s only 1 of 48 counties in England alone! The only city in Norfolk (Norwich - which isn’t very big at all), has 36 large medieval churches and 2 cathedrals just within the city center. I live in a small cottage in the English countryside which was built during the early 1400s; my village is filled with buildings constructed between 1300-1700, we have a bridge from around 1550, a church which is mostly 12th century Romanesque etc... That’s just one small village, out of hundreds upon hundreds of similar across the country. Without even considering market towns and cathedral cities. For example, a nearby city to me (Wells) even has a completely preserved street of residential housing from the mid-1300s (called Vicars’ Close). Please go out more.
Can you explain why there is Celtic artwork, and why the Welsh one at Caermead was Covered back over? Is it cause its in Wales and the Celtic artwork is more prominent. They aren't Roman built, but Roman inspired due to the good relations between Rome and Britain that was good. The Roman invasion of Britain was a Middle age lie designed to Relegate The Britons (Welsh) standing. The Floor shows there was building on the site Pre Roman times. And the artwork shows The British origins in Troy, the Horse and Sea tail in a clearly depiction of the Trojan Horse and their travel across the Med to Britain. The Notion that a Warm country such as Italy Creating central heating via the Romans is utterly ridiculous, this shows the mental gymnastics modern academia do in order to fit a pre conceived narrative.
You realise parts of Italy get snow and they do have alps.
The only thing that's ridiculous is you!
Not all of Italy is a "Warm country" as you put it and not all of Italy is warm all year round and the existence of Roman central heating technology is well documented through extant Roman structures and ancient writings.
Your poor writing skills betray your poor reasoning skills. "...good relations between Rome and Britain that was good." What?
"The Roman invasion of Britain was a Middle age lie designed to Relegate The Britons (Welsh) standing." What? "Relegate" it to what?
"And the artwork shows The British origins in Troy, the Horse and Sea tail in a clearly depiction of the Trojan Horse..." What? Is that supposed to be a coherent grammatically correct sentence?
If you can't even convey a coherent thought though writing then you certainly don't have the ability to think logically and coherently! Half baked, muddled assertions mean nothing.
Try reading a damn book.
@@damionkeeling3103 Does Rome? On a regular basis such as Britain?
@@mrfester42 There you go, nothing says reasoning skills like attacking the person as opposed to the subject he's making statements towards. As for Relegating the Britons... To turn them into Barbarians who danced around half naked in an absolutely freezing land, its utter nonsense, anyone who spent more than a day in Britain will know this is a ridiculous notion. Its already been proven that Roads for example, were well established in Britain before Rome turned up. And let's not forget that all their gear seems to have originated in other nations.
@@taffyducks544 You obviously misread what I said which goes even further in showing how muddled your thinking is and u your inability to reason!
The very first point I made was a refutation of your statement regarding Italy being a warm country and that therefore the Romans creation of central heating is ridiculous.
That's really all that's needed to show you don't know what you're talking about. Italy is NOT a warm country and the Romans did invent central heating.
All the rest is nonsense and just plain wrong. There's no need to argue the point further.
You don't know what you're talking about.
I stand by what I said. Go read a book.
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Người Pháp jean Paul sartre pháo hoa rực rỡ nó sẽ có một số hình ảnh của một người phụ nữ mang thai so sinh đôi của các nhà khoa học và
Philippines và charlier ngan ngữ Nga hy vọng sẽ có một số hình ảnh của một người phụ nữ mang thai nhi lùng và cô ấy và bây giờ hết ở đây là một trong những ngày đầu năm mới giáp ngọ
Bot needs tweaking
@@dshe8637 Bot needs scrapping
Maybe the children of Jezus Christus went from Palestina to England. 🤗
Look, great, thanks, but.
This is supposed to be a documentary. What we want to see is the thing, not the presenter.
Maybe 80% object, 20% presenter makes sense. You have it nearly reversed. Why? Think!
I was thinking the same thing as I watched. I don’t put myself in my videos because who wants another talking head on screen?
Yea my bois the romans had a palace larger then the royal family of england haha
Eh?
Fishbourne is a British palace built in the Roman style. That doesn’t make it Roman, any more than an Italianate house in Britain is Italian.
even when its built by romans for romans, is a roman tireme on the thames a british ship?
@@markjames3600 No, I don't think so. The difficulty is in proving things. Archæologists are very good at digging things up and cataloguing them, but since they don't consult the British records or frame their findings against British history their interpretations are somewhat wide of the mark.
@@marchellabrahams I'd disagree. Britain built colonial buildings all over the Empire. They were British colonial buildings, built to British standards to service the British.
@@Jin-Ro That's as may be; 'Italianate' is an architectural term, used for a style of building, not for the origins of the builders.
Lol it was built by romans the mosaics laid by romans hence it would be a Roman building by virtue situated in Britain end of story.
Hah! you dont fool us, we know you stole that shit!
Fca peeps??
If it's a mystery then the story can not be told can it?
Crap presenter
Thanks Tom, can you post link to your documentaries so we can compare?
In fact its an Arthur C Clarke
Oh look a big huge cross in the middle of the Mosaic. Parts of Britain became Christian in 36 37 ad. So more than likely British not Roman
Cool stolen stuff Brit’s
It has been in England for 2000 years! None of it is stolen, it is THEIR heritage (Romano-British); and part of Great Britain’s extremely rich history. Guess where you come from has no history to say such a thing.
Just a story
You still know NOTHING!!
Fake
Trust us to give it such a shit name.
What's shit about it? It's a lovely Saxon toponym indicating that's it's near a river rich in fish. Nice fisshhes!
British people think they are so great with all their titles and monarchy
🇺🇸 is the real king 👑
The British who you think of as the British aren't British, but rather Germanic Usurpers. The Real British were those now known as the Welsh. The British monarchy ended in the 11th Century. At least the main line.
Wow
World Of Wonder indeed
@@davepowell7168 absolutely agree! 👍👍
@@lronbutters5688 laughed at your vid.....'l'm not filming 'lol.