Carsington Roman Villa

The main house has a verandah on the west side which would catch the evening sun in the summer.

Gritstone (millstone grit) could have been obtained from the south side of Pitty Wood, which is about 1.5 km south-west of Wirksworth.

This would give it the appearance of a large stone-built Derbyshire barn or farmhouse but with crucial differences: The villa had a verandah on its main west frontage.

It had small Roman windows (window glass was found in the excavations) with shutters, and the main house had a pink shiny stone slate roof composed of mica sandstone from a quarry at Wyver Wood at Belper Lane End.

At the north end of the building, there was a room with a hypocaust (i.e. a source of central heating) on the west side.

On the east side of the north end, there was a small unit which was most likely a utility, store, or servants room.

There was no mosaic at this villa, but two types of colored tile were found during the excavations, suggesting the building may have had a patterned floor.

At the south end, there was a part of the main building, which was split into one large and two smaller partitioned areas, these appear to have been the bedrooms.

Bedrooms in Roman or medieval buildings tend to be at the south side or south-east corners as this is where there is the most heat gain from the sun in the morning.

The bathhouse is attached to the south-east corner of the building, but not directly accessible from the main house, due to risk of fire outbreak from the furnace that heated the bath.

The verandah had a clay and pebble floor, and if this was indeed the main frontage of the villa, it might have had a garden and the approach road on that side.

The interior was described as surprisingly clean as if the house had been tidied up, the doors locked and the occupants had quietly left.