Fishbourne Roman Palace starts brush-up for 2,000-year-old mosaics
‘It’s what we’re famous for and it’s what many of our visitors come to see, so keeping them clean is vital,’ says curator.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The world-renowned mosaics at Fishbourne Roman Palace are getting a spruce-up ahead of the heritage site reopening on Saturday.
The site, near Chichester, West Sussex, is home to the largest collection of in-situ Roman mosaics in the country.
With the attraction due to reopen to the public on February 11, a team of conservators has been delicately cleaning the 2,000-year-old decorative floors.
Each of the 29 mosaics takes up to 10 hours to clean as a small fine brush is used to sweep the dust away, charity Sussex Past, which owns the site, said.
Fishbourne Roman Palace curator Dr Rob Symmons said: “We’re proud to be the guardians of probably the finest collection of in-situ mosaics in the country.
“It’s what we’re famous for and it’s what many of our visitors come to see, so keeping them clean is vital.
“Just the smallest amount of dust will attract creatures who feed off that and they will attract slightly bigger creatures and so on, which could cause untold damage to these incredibly important pieces.”
Work ahead of reopening is focused on the Cupid riding on a dolphin mosaic, which was first laid in AD150.