Fishbourne Roman Palace, near Chichester in West Sussex, is the largest Roman residence yet found in Britain, built from around AD 75 on the site of an earlier Roman military base. Its North Wing, under a modern cover building, holds original mosaic floors still in the place they were laid, beside a reconstructed Roman garden. The site is run by the charity Sussex Past, with free parking and Fishbourne station a five-to-ten-minute walk away.

Contents

• History of Fishbourne Roman Palace
• Visiting Fishbourne Roman Palace: Practical Information
• Frequently Asked Questions

History of Fishbourne Roman Palace

Fishbourne was a Roman site before it was a palace. According to Historic England’s register entry, the Romans first used it as a military base in the early stages of the invasion of Britain from AD 43, building timber granaries there. Residential buildings followed, including a finely finished stone building begun between AD 65 and 75 that was never completed.

In AD 75, Historic England records, the site was cleared and levelled for the palace itself. It was laid out as four large wings fronted by a colonnaded verandah around a central open space, with the west wing raised about 1.5 metres above the rest. Visitors entered through the centre of the east wing, facing an audience chamber in the west wing across the garden. The building covered around 2.3 hectares.

The palace was altered considerably between AD 100 and 200, and in the 280s it was destroyed by fire (Historic England). Stone robbing, weathering and farming then reduced the remains to a gentle slope in the fields.

Cogidubnus and the Chichester Inscription

Cogidubnus is the name most often linked to Fishbourne. A marble slab found in Chichester in 1723, catalogued as RIB 91 in Roman Inscriptions of Britain, records a temple to Neptune and Minerva built by the authority of Tiberius Claudius Togidubnus, “great king of Britain”. The RIB editors note that “Cogidubnus” is the spelling entrenched in modern books, but that Togidumnus has equal textual authority in Tacitus’s Agricola and is the more plausible Celtic form.

Historic England states that the palace was possibly built for the British client king Togidubnus. In the publisher’s description of his book on the site, the excavator Barry Cunliffe holds that it probably belonged to him. Both are interpretations of the evidence: the connection is a strong theory, not a recorded fact.

Barry Cunliffe and the 1960s Excavations

Barry Cunliffe led the excavations that revealed the palace, as described by his publisher, The History Press. Roman finds had turned up sporadically in the area since 1805, according to Historic England, but the building was identified only after a trench for a water main was cut through the fields in 1960. The Chichester Observer reports that an exploratory dig followed in 1961, and Historic England records major excavation seasons between 1961 and 1968. The Sussex Archaeological Society bought much of the site and opened the museum to the public in 1968.

Mosaics, Garden and Significance

The palace’s mosaics are its best-known feature. Sussex Past, which owns and runs the site, describes them as the largest collection of mosaics in situ in the UK. The most famous is the Cupid on a Dolphin mosaic in the North Wing.

The formal garden is registered Grade II* by Historic England, first listed in 1984. Its northern half was replanted from 1968 along bedding trenches found by excavation, with clipped box hedging marking the original paths. Historic England notes that no direct evidence survives of which plants grew there, so the species were chosen from Roman wall paintings and written records. Sussex Past calls the recreated gardens the earliest found anywhere in the country, and the History Press description of Cunliffe’s book states that no comparable Roman garden has been found west of Italy.

The wider Fishbourne Roman site is also a scheduled monument, protected by law as being of national importance (Historic England).

Visiting Fishbourne Roman Palace: Practical Information

Address: Roman Way, Chichester PO19 3QR

Opening hours: Daily, 10am to 4.30pm, from 2 September to 6 December 2026. Hours after 6 December have not yet been published.

Last admission: The official site gives both 30 minutes and one hour before closing, so arrive by 3.30pm to be safe.

Adult: £15.00

Child (5 to 17) / Student: £7.50

Senior (65+): £14.00

Family (1 adult + up to 3 children): £28.00

Family (2 adults + up to 4 children): £42.00

Under 5s and essential carers: Free

Booking: Advance booking is not essential.

By train: Fishbourne station, five to ten minutes’ walk.

By bus: Services 700 and 56 from Chichester to Salthill Road, five to ten minutes’ walk.

By car: Near the A27 and A259, with free car and coach parking.

Suggested visit length: Around two hours.

Accessibility: The site is generally level, with wide doors and ramps to the museum, North Wing mosaic area, café and film theatre. Garden paths are gravel, but the formal garden can be seen from the North Wing colonnade. There are four Blue Badge spaces, accessible toilets and two loan wheelchairs (reserve the day before on 01243 785859).

Dogs: Welcome in all areas on short leads.

Food: The Roman Kitchen Café, plus picnics in the gardens.

Managed by: Sussex Past (The Sussex Archaeological Society, a registered charity)

Official website: sussexpast.co.uk

Prices last checked: October 2026

Opening hours last checked: October 2026

For more Roman and historic sites, see our England guides and Castles & Historic Attractions.

Frequently Asked Questions