fishbourne roman palace

I was as a teenager mad on archaeology lucky enough to be a digger during the original excavation of the palace.This site is unique in Britain the largest Roman home in the country and the home of a king. It is an experience that families with young children will treasure, and the educational benefits for the children are immense. I visit at least once a year and feel very privileged to be able to do this. My advice is don't miss it.

A truly amazing museum of glorious mosaics ad artefacts from the Roman occupation in the area. Under cover as well as gardens in fine weather.Very well laid out, informative and great for scholars and school children to learn.A great facility and a treasure to be loved for generations.Good gift hop too!Very well set up and a tribute to hard work.

We visited to help support my 9 year old daughter's learning of the ancient Roman period at school. We arrived at 10am and left at about 1:30pm which included a stop for a lunch. Had the weather been a bit warmer we would have probably spent a bit more time in the gardens. The staff were very helpful and informative although as a previous contributor pointed out 1 or 2 are a bit loud. The centre is relatively small which makes it easy for them to come and 'round people up' to tell them when the next information video or guided tour is taking place. We went and saw the short information video (12 minutes) which was a great introduction to what the palace is, why it's there etc. The tour was advertised as child friendly but my daughter preferred for us to do our own thing so I cannot comment on it. The museum part was short enough not to be tiring but enough to provide a broad level of information about the site from its being discovered and excavated, to who lived there, what the building was made of and how day to day life took place. For children there is a photocopied booklet for sale (nominal fee) that they can fill in as they go around. We did this and it was nice to focus the mind and added to the information we were able to collect and take in. I felt that the mosaics area was very well 'laid out'. It's a historic site for goodness sake so you work with what's there and it certainly seems that the society has done just that. There are a few steps but sloped walk ways as well for wheelchair users. It was wonderful to see the expansive area that the wing once covered but also sad to think how much has been robbed away over time by building, ploughing and so on. How on earth people think a mosaic can be uplifted and put in the British museum is beyond me. It deserves to stay in situ where people can appreciate the context. There is a small area for children to investigate building materials, make mosaics, do coin rubbings etc. Its all quite low key but certainly adequate and encourages a more focused visit.We also used the tea room. From outside its nothing to look at. However, once inside, the staff were friendly and helpful. The food was freshly prepared and well priced. We had freshly made sandwiches and cake. The portions were very generous and the food very tasty. My pot of tea made three cups, so all in all, good value - plus - it was nice and warm inside!! The museum and coffee shop both take visa/mastercard etc payments.We used the ladies toilets which were clean.There is a small gift shop with a reasonable range of items.The palace is a very short walk from Fishbourne train station so its easy to get to by road or rail. Over all, a very enjoyable outing

I remember visiting Fishbourne Roman Palace as a child (decades ago!) and was quite stunned to discover that the experience is just as breath-taking now, as an adult... Excellently presented and attended by enthusiastic and well-informed staff, the Palace is expertly brought to life beneath your feet - and it becomes an easy stretch of the imagination to project a 3-dimensional world around you, even to picture yourself revelling in a wealthy Roman ex-pat lifestyle. The sheer size of the property, fascinatingly projected outwards from the covered exhibition rooms, is overwhelming.

I love visiting Fishbourne Roman Palace. My husband and I have been several times and enjoy bringing friends and family here too. The latest visit saw an excellent talk by a very knowledgeable guide, a 12 minute video on the history of the palace plus of course time to freely wander to look at the incredibly beautiful mosaic floors and the museum. We were lucky that it was good weather because the grounds are also absolutely lovely.

only broken half filled mosaics on the floor and nothing else all you could do was walk and see 1 mosaic

It was a wet cold Saturday but worthwhile venturing beyond the covered exhibition area to get a better idea of the size of this place. A really interesting tour at 11.00 was followed by an equally fascinating different one at 12.00 . The museum is worth looking around first to see some of the artefacts found and learn about the dig and history before you look at the mosaics. Thinking about how this place was used was enjoyable and the guide encouraged us to do this as well as describing the archaeology. The cafe was good - nice cake!Charge to go in would have been £8.40 for us but we got a 50% reduction for our Eng Heritage membership.

We visited the museum in half term, without children, and it was lovely to see how enthusiastic the staff were, in costume and with a variety of activities including rubbings, weaving and dress up. The Palace is made up of 5 main areas - firstly, a museum which tells about the discovery of the mosaics in the 1960s, then works chronologically through Roman history, the time of the mosaics and the Palace that was on site. Secondly, there is a video approximately 10-15 minutes long narrated I believe by Tony Robinson. It covers similar material to the museum but does not feel repetitious. Next, the main attraction: a collection of authentic Roman mosaics from a number of periods. They are well laid out with information as you walk around to explain their place in the Palace. We also bought the guide book which adds some extra information as you look around. Outside, you can see a garden which has been planted according to what they believe are the original designs. You can also see where the edges of the rest of the palace may have been. Finally, there is a Discovery Centre opposite the entrance which allows you to handle artefacts discovered on the site - we did not visit this part so I can't say how good it was!The site offers a quite unique look at some authentic Roman mosaics and contains a wealth of information; it would be worth a second visit to take in some more! You get the feeling that the staff genuinely care about the Palace and the whole place feels different - in a good way - to some of the more corporate historical sites like English Heritage or National Trust (much as we enjoy those too). A word of caution, the mosaic area itself can be a little chilly! I assume because they need to keep them in good condition. Overall a good day out. We paid just under £9 each which seemed good value to us.

The scale of this site is quite mind boggling really. You have to use your imagination but it just adds to the significance and sophistication of the appreciation of the Roman influence

Hadn't been here for ages. Staff very welcoming. The display gives you some idea of the scale of the original palace. The mosaic work is very detailed and well displayed. The information points are very good, and this is an ideal place to learn about Roman Britain. Took 2 8 year olds over half term and there were lots of different activities for them.

Been meaning to visit here for a while and today was the day. Unfortunately we left it a bit late in the day but still managed to learn a great deal thanks to the informative guide. Just managed to catch the last tour of the day and glad we did, it really brought the past to life. Interesting museum but did not see the short film that was on offer, maybe next time. Definitely worth another visit.

I wouldn't normally think to post a review about an attraction (as opposed to a hotel or restaurant) but I felt the need to in this instance, given the excellence of the staff at Fishbourne. The woman who served us at the entrance desk was extremely friendly, asked about the ages of the children, and seemed to go out of her way to make sure that they had the right trail booklets, pencils and so on, went and put the information film on for us and seemed very enthusiastic without being "false" in any way. Later, we came across a young man who was there to demonstrate Roman games/pastimes in the museum. He was a bit of a Roman "geek" (if he reads this - that is meant as a compliment) and was clearly very passionate and knowledgeable about his subject. He was quite happy to be asked all sorts of questions by adults and children and we ended up talking to him for ages. Lastly, we had lunch at the cafe and the girl who served us was lovely and very patient with us whilst our group of children chattered excitedly and took ages to make up their minds what they wanted. Fishbourne are clearly doing something right on the recruitment front. Oh, and place itself was very interesting, our group of 7-9 years olds were very excited about filling out their trail booklets which gave us adults time to actually read the information boards. Fascinating.

Didn't feel as if there was much order to the layout and walkways around the exhibits. Not really any staff about to ask question to about certain parts. Not very toddler friendly. Disabled toilet facilities not well laid out.

Actually it was a few years ago we visited, our daughter was studying the Romans - so we spent pretty much a full day here. The mosaics and wonderful and there is a lot to see, worth visiting - regardless of if children are covering the Romans.

It had been many years since my last visit to Fishbourne Roman Palace but I'm so glad Imtook the opportunity to revisit. The exhibitions are wonderful but the highlight for me was visiting the research centre. It's a wonderful opportunity to learn about what goes on behind the scenes with restoration and we were even allowed to handle some of the exhibits. If you get the chance to go on the research centre tour I can highly recommend it but it may not be the best place to take kids.