I have a gig in Brighton tomorrow so decided to have a little break on the South coast, driving casually from Portsmouth to Brighton and stop off on the way if I came across anything exciting. I had not planned ahead. I had no idea what lay between these two towns, so was delighted to discover the town of Fishbourne, home to
Fishbourne Palace. It's the ruins of a massive Roman villa with some of the finest mosaic floors in the country. I have read about it before, but never been here. And I am a big fan of Roman ruins and was really excited about seeing it.
And I wasn't disappointed.
There's a good little museum attached and then the north wing of the palace is housed in a long building beside it. And it's well worth a look if you have any interest in this kind of thing. The Mosaic with Cupid riding a dolphin (why not) is almost entirely complete and is extremely beautiful and many of the other less complete ones are still worth a look. My favourite thing about the whole place, slightly weirdly, was the bits of damage that have occurred over the years since the Palace was burned to the ground. There's a burial (still in situ) in the middle of one floor, another mosaic has been ruined by a tree's roots growing bang in the centre of it. A couple of the floors have the scar of a medieval plough coarsing through them and then at the far end is a more regular trench caused by a digger in 1960, which is significant as it was actually this work that led to the discovery of the palace. The unspoiled cupid mosaic is right in the middle of several areas of damage, preserved by chance. If the family of the skellington had buried their relative ten feet to the west then Cupid would have been obliterated. If the acorn that the tree grew from had landed five feet to the east, the dolphin would never have been seen. If the man operating the digger had not been as observant as he was, or had just thought "Oh Fuck it!" then no-one would have seen any of this in all likelihood. Indeed the people building the houses and the roads to the south obviously totally failed to notice the other end of the Palace and who knows what amazing treasures were lost.
I am also always astounded by the direct connection with people from hundreds of years ago that one experiences at these places. The everyday items in the museum were held in the hands of our ancestors - I felt a particular connection with the dice and other gaming pieces - maybe in 3500 someone will find one of my poker chips buried in the radioactive rubble of destroyed Old London. It's something I certainly felt on both my trips to
Pompeii, but though Fishbourne is not comparable, it still makes you remember how modern the Romans were. A mock up of a room in the Palace has a sideboard full of crockery and a sofa and those crazy Romano-Britons are not all that far removed from us. I love this shit. I should do another archaeological dig sometime. I was always into it. I was reminded of all the holes I dug in my garden in Cheddar looking for buried treasure. I remember finding a little blob of something or other that to me (and I am surprised that as an 8 year old I would have recognised this) like a little figurine of a pregnant woman, which I thought might be some kind of prehistoric god figure like
The Venus of Willendorf. I took it into school where Miss Robson my much loved primary schoolteacher told me she thought it was just a melted bit of plastic or something. She was right of course (I still remember the disgust in my sister's voice at my teacher spoiling the illusion, but Miss Robson was so brilliant in every other way that I can be forgiving and in fact would like to thank her for not patronising me), but it didn't stop me collecting bits of plate and tile from the garden. I need a hobby. Maybe I should get back to it. Hey, now I am grown up I could even buy a metal detector. How exciting! Though of course most proper archaeologists frown a little on that sort of thing.
Anyway I had a good time on this unplanned excursion and they gave me a season ticket so I can go back any time in the next year. But maybe I should go and look at some of those other places I have always meant to visit - Sutton Hoo might be next.
So anyway, there you go. That's five year's worth of unbroken entries for you. What do you want? Blood.
Tomorrow I start on the 6th year. How quickly it has flown.
You have until midday on Monday to get your fivers into the
justgiving page, if you want to be guaranteed a prize anyway. I will do the draw on Monday if I get time and at least let you know where the major prizes are headed. Thanks so much to all those of you who have donated so far. It makes me feel very appreciated and that this has been worthwhile to know that at least a few of you think it's worth a little donation. Tomorrow we'll have a party, OK?
Happy Birthday to this.
