Summary

The buried remains of a Romano-British bath house of C2 - C4 AD.

Source: Historic England

Details

The monument includes a Roman bathhouse surviving as partially excavated buried archaeological remains. This may have been part of a large, sprawling agricultural or industrial settlement, of which the bath house formed only a part, but alternatively the bath house could have been associated with a villa or even a mansio since it is close to a Roman road.

The bathhouse was constructed about AD 125, as a detached building containing a podyterium (changing room), a frigidarium with a shallow cold bath, and a caldarium including hypocausts and an adjoining furnace room. In about AD 175 repairs and alterations took place and a small hot bath was added. Further alterations were made in about AD 300 when two rooms of the bath house, one with a herringbone brick floor of c AD 125, were adapted as living rooms and a kitchen was added to the south. The building is thought to have been destroyed by fire shortly after AD 364. Industrial remains were also found on the site including evidence for pottery kilns and metalworking, but no direct evidence for the presence of a settlement was recovered.

Excavations within the site also revealed convincing soil mark indications of three further buildings in addition to the one excavated.

EXTENT OF SCHEDULING
The scheduled area comprises a quadrangle of land on the eastern side of the A283, between the present road and a section of old road used as a lay-by. Centred on NGR TQ0647817564, and covering an area of approximately 100msq, the north-western corner is at TQ0647217581, the north-eastern corner 15.8m east-south-east at TQ0648817579, the south-eastern corner 35.2m to the south at TQ0648417544, and the south-western corner 12.7m to the west at TQ0647217545, 35.9m south of the north-western corner.

The monument excludes all road surfaces and telecommunications equipment and cabinets but the ground beneath these features is included.

Further extensive evidence of Roman occupation and activity has been found in the vicinity of the bath house, but as their exact nature and extent cannot be conclusively demonstrated, these remains are not currently protected by scheduling.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

The remains of the Romano-British bath house at Lickfold are scheduled for the following principal reasons:
* Period and rarity: in view of their importance for the understanding of Romano-British settlement development and social practice, all surviving examples of bath houses are considered to be nationally significant;
* Survival: although partially excavated, the bath house survives well as a series of buried features and archaeological deposits;
* Potential: investigations have demonstrate that the site retains valuable archaeological evidence. Further parts of the site remain unexcavated and will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to its history and use, as well as of the landscape in which it was constructed;
* Group value: the bathhouse is associated with Roman remains revealed by excavation in the adjacent fields and is in close proximity to the course of the Roman road running from Codmore Hill to Marehill, enhancing its significance.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Evans, K J, 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in Excavations on a Romano-British Site, Wiggonholt, 1964, , Vol. Volume 112, (1974), pp97-151
Winbolt, S E, Goodchild R G, , 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in The Roman Villa at Lickfold, Wiggonholt, Second Report, , Vol. Volume 81, (1939), pp54-67
Winbolt, S E, Goodchild R G, , 'Sussex Archaeological Collections' in A Roman Villa at Lickfold, Wiggonholt, , Vol. Volume 78, (1936), pp13-36
Other
Archaeology South East / Riccoboni P, An Archaeological Watching Brief at The Marehill Waste Treatment Waterworks, Pulborough, West Sussex, 2007,
Currie, CK, An Archaeological Watching Brief at Link Farm, Pulborough, West Sussex, 2000,
Wessex Archaeology, Lickfold Farm, Pulborough, West Sussex - Archaeological Evaluation, 1991,
Wessex Archaeology, Link Farm, Pulborough - Archaeological Field Evaluation, 1994,
Wessex Archaeology, Link Farm, Pulborough, West Sussex - Barn Construction 1996 - PR/3/96, 1996,
Wessex Archaeology, Link Farm, Pulborough, West Sussex, Archaeological Monitoring and Recording, 1995,

Source: Historic England