Painting in the fake stonework
To see the progress of the building on the blogs click on the word Roman here.
The Roman building measures 10m by 5.6m. The walls are of mass cob with a c.0.8m thickness reaching to a height of 2.5m. Internally there is a raised Roman-concrete floor on top of stone slabs supported on each corner by terra cotta tile columns called pillae, 0.6m high.
This will be used for an underfloor hypocaust system that will be fed heat from an external furnace at the back of the building. The hot air will exit below the roof via box tile flues built into the wall at intervals. The hypocaust has been fired on three occasions and seems to draw well.
The floor will have a central mosaic based on 4th century designs known from nearby Hurcot villa. The plastered walls will be painted in colours and styles known from the Roman period. In the main room the dado (base strip) and top scroll will be based on plaster from the villa near Brent Knoll. Columns are based on ones from Lullingstone, ‘fried egg’ designs from Catterick (both 4th century) and generic fake marble panels. Figurative images are all deities, Flora godess of Spring (not margarine) and Bacchus god of wine and feasting are both based on early images fom Italy, while Diana, goddess of the hunt, is based on a 4th century image from Rome. The smaller room will have designs based on Iwerne Minster (Dorset).
The roof is 5.6m high and consist of four oak trusses, purlins and rafters, with boarding on top. Covering this are Roman style tegulae and imbrices roof tiles. The gable ends above the cob are filled with wattle and daub.
Hello,
I am a timber frame carpenter, living in Glastonbury, and am a member of ‘the carpenters fellowship’. I would like to be involved in the reconstruction of the Roman and Anglo Saxon projects. I understand there has been dialogue with the carpenters fellowship, and as as a local representative, I would like to see if we can work with you on the timber work of this project. We would like to provide a skilled timber framer if you have funding, who can lead the training in traditional timber framing. I look forward to your reply.