Steve writes: We have concentrated on Trench A today. The main room of the villa exposed in this area (with its niche or small apse to one side) clearly had underfloor heating as we are exposing the sunken cavity below floor level. This survives to a depth of about 50 cm to the concrete floor of the cavity. Having exposed one pillar to support the floor we hope to find more. An interesting development in the eastern corner of the trench is the addition of a small room, which was hinted at by the survey and excavation confirms it. We wondered if this was a furnace room for the heating system. However, this small room also had underfloor heating as it has very well preserved tile piers to support the floor. This room was an expansion of the suite as its foundations are different from the main structure: un-mortared chalk rather than mortared flint. Was this a reflection of an increase in wealth towards the end of the Roman era? Most villas near the coast in Kent are abandoned in the later Roman period but our site on the Nailbourne was seemingly thriving.
