One of the best-preserved small Roman buildings in Britain is for sale. The Bath House, in East Sussex, was one of the largest ironworks in the Roman Empire from the first to the third century AD, and is being sold to facilitate the development of the rest of a 150 acre site, which consists of 80 acres of woodland, 30 acres of nature reserve and a mixture of pine and coppice plantation. The owners want to turn the whole area into a Wild England Project area, where children and adults come to get in touch with their natural environment, and to fund the plans, they are offering the Roman Bath House for private sale.
The Bath House was discovered in 1970 by Dr Gerald Brodribb, a local amateur archaeologist. The plot is approximately five acres in size, and is situated in a sheltered enclave, which affords some protection from extremes of weather. It has the same heritage status as Stonehenge, therefore many see it becoming a very fine visitors centre, if restored carefully with the surrounding project in mind.
The options for preservation of the Roman Bath House ultimately depend on whether the new owner is keen on opening the building up for public viewing, but the current owners are certainly hoping that this will be the case. Any structural changes would obviously have to go through the Department of Culture Media and Sport, whether they be restorative or adding to what is presently there.
The Roman Bath House is being offered for £300,000. For further information, please contact Freeman Forman on 01424 773888.
