A little to the east of Durham City sits a spot on the map which goes by
the name of Old Durham. It is aptly named, as here was said to sit what is
thought to have been the most northerly farm in Roman Britain. Well, of those
that have so far been found, anyway.
Sand quarrying led to the accidental discovery of promising-looking relics
there in the late 1930s, so the site was properly examined, archaeologically,
in 1940. Broken Roman tiles seemed to indicate the former presence of a Roman
bath house. It was speculated that a Romano-British villa-farm may have
occupied the spot – but subsequent quarrying activities destroyed what was left
of the aging bits and bobs.
Circumstantial evidence has since backed up the original archaeologists’
claims, and Old Durham is now generally regarded as the best candidate for the
most northerly farmstead-villa of the old Roman Empire. It is known that a
Roman way, Cade’s Road, passed nearby, for one thing – and ancient bridge
footings have also been found a matter of yards away, suggesting it was may
have been a busy little place. The site was probably active from the second to
the fourth centuries, with the bath house added late in the day.
Much of the area
is today taken up by Old Durham Gardens (see here), the
recently revitalised grounds of an originally 17th century manor
house. Though the building was demolished within decades of its construction,
the grounds continued to be used during the 18th, 19th
and early 20th centuries as a place of public recreation. Following
a period of decline after WWII, the site has been brought back to life by the
local council in recent years.
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