Reconstructed Roman garden opens at museum in South Downs National Park
November 3, 2023
A beautiful formal Roman Garden next to a reconstructed villa has been opened at an open-air museum in Hampshire.
The Duke of Gloucester officially opened the immaculate garden at Butser Ancient Farm, near Waterlooville.
The Royal visit coincided with the celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the construction of Butser’s villa, based on the archaeology of Sparsholt Roman Villa, near Winchester.
The garden was generously funded as a legacy and in memory of long-term Butser volunteer Joan Rundle, whose special interest was Roman gardens.
The new garden includes sweet chestnut pergolas, stone benches, urns, raised flower beds and opus signinum paths, all elements known to have featured in Roman gardens.
The design was created with access in mind and is fully wheelchair accessible with the raised beds allowing easier access for both visitors and volunteers.
Kathryn Bingham, a Butser volunteer, said: “It’s been fascinating to research and explore the types of plants the Romans used and brought to this country almost 2,000 years ago – many of which we still use for the same purpose today. One of my favourite features in the garden is the rosemary hedging, not only does it smell beautiful and attracts the bees and butterflies, but it was also an important herb in Roman times, known as the herb of memory and the renewal of energy. Washing with rosemary was said to be a natural method of keeping one’s youthful looks.”
The centrepiece of the garden is a stunning 6m diameter circular mosaic floor, created by a team of volunteers using genuine Roman tesserae. These tesserae were originally part of a villa complex that happened to be in the path of the construction of the M4 motorway, near Swindon, in the 1970’s. They were rescued from the bulldozers by a team of archaeologists and, last year, were donated to Butser Ancient farm to use in their experimental reconstructions.