TODAY we're going to look at the relatively recent discovery of a Roman Villa in Puddletown.

The 1,000 acre Druce Farm, near Puddletown, lies about five miles east of Dorchester and has been excavated over the last four years.

Lilian Ladle MBE explores the discovery of this incredibly intact villa in The Dorset yearbook 2016.

The first sign that there was something under foot in a field where huge lumps of flint and limestone littered the surface could smash many ploughs.

In the early 1990s members of the Stour Valley Metal Detectorists worked in the field where they picked up Roman coins and noted large numbers of what looked like broken Roman ceramic roof tiles.

It took 20 years before a small group of amateur archaeologists from the East Dorset Antiquarian Society (EDAS) systematically walked over the field confirming the presence of large amounts of building debris as well as occasional pieces of Roman pottery.

Geophysical prospecting was used on the site and the results established that there were once three sets of buildings ranged around a large courtyard surrounded by three enclosure ditches.

Lilian writes: "The complex lay on sloping ground on the north side of the River Piddle and looked very much like the setting of a classical Roman villa."

In August and September 2012, volunteers investigated trenches which revealed remnants of a building.

These were rooms of status and sophistication because of the presence of loose tesserae and large chunks of painted wall plaster.

Also discovered were heavy limestone roof tiles and deep ditches filled with demolition debris and household rubbish in the form of broken pottery, glass and large amounts of animal bone.

Excavation continued throughout the summers of 2014 and 2015 and the results have been quite 'spectacular, Lilian writes.

It was discovered that the first house in this villa complex was built between 100 and 200AD.

"Over the next 200 or so years, the building was developed and extended and in its heyday in the latter 4th century not only was there a large high-class house, but another hall-type building and separate workshops.

"All were constructed with care using high quality building materials."

*The Northern Range was the most complex and was the owner's private accomodation.

Mosaics survived in five of the rooms.

*In the East Range a small anteroom to the south had a new born baby buried in the build-up material and two further infants interred below the floor of the room. The Romans believed that infants did not acquire a 'soul' until they had cut their first teeth and burial under buildings was quite normal.

The northernmost rooms all led out onto a corridor giving access to a large courtyard, which in all likelihood was laid out as formal gardens.

It was discovered that the latest occupation of the villa was the 6th century as there is plenty of evidence that it was used after the 'conventional' end of Roman Britain.

*Another building on the eastern side of the courtyard was used for administering estate affairs and may have house junior members of the family.

*Two thirds of the way down the building was evidence of what could have been a plunge pool. The Romans were not bothered bywater quality and as levels dropped in the tank, servants would have topped it up.

*A well-constructed oven was found in the north-west corner, it's possible the family's meals were cooked here.

*A building on the west side of the courtyard contained a stone-built oven, a group of coins and the remains of a small ironworking furnace, from which most of the household ironwork would have been made.

Pottery evidence suggests that the site was occupied for at least 500 years, with most of the everyday pottery being locally made in the Poole Harbour area. Expensive pots came from France and Germany.

Also found was a very rare fragment from a decorated beaker made in Cologne - a rare luxury good.

Remains of food consumed on site such as cattle, sheep, pig, duck and fish, was also found.

Personal items found included bronze and bone hair pins, finger rings and a large bronze leather working needle.

Despite life at the villa carrying on for another 200 years after the Roman legions left, the building was eventually abandoned, deteriorated and ultimately collapsed.

The land became part of an agricultural landscape.

Today the site has been removed from the farming programme and the remains have been grassed over to ensure its future survival.

*For more information on this tale of Duce Farm Roman Villa and for more tales of Dorset life, see the Dorset Yearbook 2016.

It is available for £7.50 from Dorchester TIC, Books Afloat in Weymouth and Cards and Celebrations at Easton , Portland.

Or buy it by post from Alderman Andy Hutchings, 23 Hereford Road, Weymouth, Dorset, DT4 0QB at a cost of £10 including UK postage.