Bax Farm Roman villa appears to have been discovered twice, first in 1986 following a farmer hitting masonry during ploughing, and then again by fieldwalking in 1996. An octagonal building was found and was partially excavated in 1986 and 2006. It was fully excavated in 2009. (1-4)

In August 1986 trenches were dug by KARU and found the walls of the octagonal bath house. (2 and 4)

Fieldwalking in 1998 recovered Roman pottery ranging in date from the late first to the fourth century, including Samian, Black-burnished ware, fine Upchurch, Belgic shelly ware, Brockley Hill mortaria and Dressel 20 amphorae. Also found were tesserae, window glass, an ivory object, a pipe-clay figurine, nails and a late Roman enamelled mount.

In 2006 a geophysical survey was carried out over the site and a number of test pits dug on the basis of these results. These pits recovered a range of pottery, the Roman material dating from c.AD 250-370.

In August of 2006 a trial trench 2m wide and 30m long was excavated across the most promising test pits. This found a concrete base of a Roman corn mill along with a road surface (or hollow way), post holes, ditches and the stone walls of the octagonal bath house. The mill was dated to c. AD 270-370 by pottery. This trench was expanded and features from the Late Iron Age through to the Anglo-Saxon period were found.

In 2009 a full excavation was undertaken on the site and the complete bath house exposed. Additional buildings are thought to lie to the north and west of the bath house.

The bath house was octagonal in plan, c.14.5m in across, with an inner arcade, also octagonal and 7m across, with a central pool c.3.9m in diameter. Two rooms were arranged around the outside of the octagon; the larger was c.5m x 7m and extended to the north. The smaller room was to the east and was c. 2.6m x 3m, this was the furnace room. An apse extended out from the southwest of the structure. The floors were of opus signinum, the walls were of ragstone and flint whilst the roof was tiled (based on the volume of tegula and imbrex tiles recovered from the rubble filling the rooms). Painted plaster from the rooms was yellow, red and white. There were a number of phases with alterations to the plan and arrangement.

Within the bath house there were two furnaces, all but one of the rooms had a hypocaust. A coin found in the ash in the east furnace room dated to c. AD 355-341. A coin in the ash of the other furnace dated to AD 330-335. In the apse there were fragments of white marble, possibly coming from a basin. The central pool was fed by a conduit entering the building from the north which fed a lead pipe to the pool (though this appears to have been a later alteration). The pool itself had been remodelled twice, its final phase being a shallow pool. A coin from the mortar of the first plunge pool dated to AD 330-335.

Coins from the demolition deposits in the building covered the date range of AD 253-341 whilst the pottery ranged from AD 180-650. Pottery from one of the rooms within the building only dated from c. AD 270-370 and those from the apse dated to c. AD 350-420.

The building was reused during the Anglo-Saxon period, with kilns constructed within the structure. A large pit was dug to the north of the bath house, cutting the northern wall of the external room, suggesting it had already been dismantled by this date. The walls of the main bath house were robbed and pottery found in the backfill dated to the 13th-14th centuries. Elsewhere the rubble contained pottery from the 12th-13th centuries. (3)

In 2020, a second geophysical survey was completed, which revealed a wider area of probably Roman period associated settlement and a possible late prehistoric enclosure. (16)

<1> Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company, 1996, Interim Report Teynham District Neolithic, Roman and Medieval Sites (Unpublished document). SWX7156.

<2> Philp, B. J., 1998, Roman Villas in the Swale Area (Article in serial). SWX7651.

<3> The Kent Archaeological Field School, 2011, An archaeological investigation of the Roman octagonal bath-house at Bax Farm, Teynham, Kent 2006 & 2009 (Unpublished document). SKE17188.

<3> Paul Wilkinson, 2011, An octagonal bath-house at Bax Farm, Teynham (Article in serial). SKE25168.

<4> Sittingbourne and Swale Archaeological Group, Site Files (Index). SWX9396.

<4> Brian Philp, 2010, The discovery of a Roman bath-house at Bax Farm, Tonge, Kent (Article in serial). SKE25103.

<5> Field report for monument TQ 86 NE 13 - July, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4535.

<6> Collectanea Cantiana 1893 67 (G Payne) (OS Card Reference). SKE39217.

<7> Gents Mag 1857 1 232 (OS Card Reference). SKE43585.

<8> VCH Kent 3 1932 117 156 (OS Card Reference). SKE51001.

<9> F1 CFW 10-JUL-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42513.

<10> JBAA 2 1847 139-40 (C Roach Smith) (OS Card Reference). SKE44886.

<11> Arch 29 1842 226 (C Roach Smith) (OS Card Reference). SKE34383.

<12> Pte 6" (L R A Grove 1950) (OS Card Reference). SKE48864.

<13> Rec 6" (R F Jessup undated) (OS Card Reference). SKE49071.

<14> Collectanea Antiqua 6 1868 196 (C Roach Smith) (OS Card Reference). SKE39203.

<15> Kent Archaeological Field School, 2012?, An archaeological investigation of the Roman octagonal bath-house at Bax Farm, Teynham, Kent 2006 &2009 (Unpublished document). SKE53610.

<16> Darnley Archaeological Services, 2020, Geophysical survey by Magnetometry, Bax Farm, Teynham, near Sittingbourne, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE54219.