The Roman Lane Art Project
Before the houses were built, archaeologists surveyed and excavated the area discovering a Roman past that had lain buried for over 1,700 years. Inspired by the discovery and the local wildlife the children of Castlewood Primary and Southwater Academy worked with the artist commissioned to create these art screens.
The Screens
The Artwork has incorporated traditional Roman designs found in mosaics and painted walls of the Roman Villas of Fishbourne and Bignor and elsewhere. It incorporates images of the local wildlife to create a 21st century vision of classical decoration.
Beyond Rome
After the Roman’s left in 410AD, nature took over and so the buildings disappeared from landscape and memory. Some 1400 years later a railway would be built nearby taking trains to the North Downs of Surrey and the South Down’s of Sussex. The rural line was axed in 1966, lasting only 100 years, but the remains of it can be seen along the Down’s Link, a cycle, footpath that can be joined by following the footpath.
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The Artist
Southwater Parish Council commissioned artist Tim Ward of Circling the Square in 2020 to create this public art for Roman Road, Southwater. http://www.circlingthesquare.com/