The value of polished plaster in a home can become very apparent when it has been freshly laid. Its smooth, stylish surface can give your walls a look of quality and offers a range of colours and decorations that provide just the style you want.
If ever there was a way to prove how this quality can endure, one only has to look at those great pioneers of polished plastering, the Romans. Across the empire, not only were many of the finest buildings adorned with plaster walls, but also ceilings and even some floor tiles.
It is not just in far-flung parts of the empire or even in Rome itself that you can see these; there are many examples here in the UK, which have been among the many exciting Roman archaeological finds that have turned up down the years and continue to do so.
Some of these were known about quite some time ago. In the early 1880s, for example, a dig at Brading Roman Villa on the Isle of Wight revealed wall plaster, including one piece decorated with a peacock. This item is one of thousands in the villa’s permanent collection.
In Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, the town’s museum has many items of wall plaster from the Atworth Villa, which has been extensively excavated in recent years.
These highly colourful items were, unfortunately, fragmented and jumbled due to the collapse of the walls down the years; as elsewhere, Roman masonry provided a handy material for recycling into later buildings.
Among ongoing excavations, a myriad of painted wall plaster fragments have been found at the bathhouse unexpectedly found at Carlisle Cricket Club, which was based just a few metres from where Hadrian’s Wall ran through the city (the wall stones have been repurposed for buildings such as Carlisle’s cathedral and castle).
The fact that, after all these centuries, the colour of the plaster remains is one notable feature, but it is also worth reflecting on the practical benefits that all these plaster walls brought.
They are waterproof, which is particularly useful in a bathhouse, just as it would be in a modern bathroom today, but it is also breathable and hygienic, as the lime element of the plaster is alkaline and provides a hostile environment that curbs the growth of mould, mildew and bacteria.
Some of these Roman Villas and bathhouses were very opulent indeed, especially the one at Carlisle, which has been linked with the Roman emperor Septimus Severus. That alone should be an indication that plaster walls were not for everyone in Roman times, but equally that they were suited for those in the very highest places in society.
Of course, you don’t need to run an empire to enjoy the benefits of Roman-style polished plaster today and your house does not need to look as opulent as a Roman villa.
However, what you can do is benefit from a type of plaster that served those who colonised Britain nearly 2,000 years ago so well. Like the invention of underfloor heating, they knew they were onto a good thing.
