The largest Roman villa in Britain

Fishbourne Roman Palace is in the village of Fishbourne in West Sussex. The palace was built in the 1st century AD, around thirty years after the Roman conquest of Britain¹, on the site of² Roman army grain stores which had been established after the invasion, in the reign (triều đại; cai trị) of the Emperor Claudius in 43 AD. The rectangular palace was built around formal gardens³, the northern half of which has been reconstructed. There were extensive alterations⁴ in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, with many of the original black and white mosaic (tranh khảm; nghệ thuật khảm) floors⁵ being overlaid with more sophisticated (tinh tế / sang trọng) coloured ones, including a perfectly preserved mosaic (tranh khảm; nghệ thuật khảm)⁶ of a dolphin in the north wing. More alterations were in progress when the palace burnt down⁷ in around 270 AD, after which it was abandoned⁸.

Local people had long believed that a Roman palace once existed in the area. However, it was not until 1960 that the archaeologist Barry Cunliffe, of Oxford University, first systematically (một cách có hệ thống) excavated (đào bới; khai quật) the site⁹, after workmen had accidentally uncovered a wall while they were laying a water main.