Roman Painted House reopens for the Easter holiday

A tourist attraction in Dover will reopen to the public over the Easter Weekend following its routine closure over the winter.

The Roman Painted House in New Street will be open between 10:00 and 16:00 BST on Good Friday, Saturday, Easter Sunday and Monday.

It will then be open on Saturdays until the end of September.

Dover Museum says the spring opening has taken longer than anticipated as it needed to carry out "final air sampling checks" because of the wet winter weather.

The Roman Painted House was discovered in 1970 and excavated by local archaeologists during the 1980s, the museum said.

Built in about 200 AD it formed part of the Roman military site in Dover.

It has "unique painted plaster walls (frescoes) and elaborate under floor heating (hypocaust)", a Dover Museum spokesperson said.

"The Roman Painted House is just part of a significant set of archaeological remains in the centre of Dover, some of which are under the adjacent Roman Lawn and include a Roman Bath House."

In early 2024, the museum says it carried out a range of improvements to make the attraction compliant and safe.

"Since the weather has improved over the last month, the air quality in the building is now deemed fine for both visitors and staff," the museum spokesperson said.

The museum says more than 3,100 visitors have visited the Roman Painted House since it reopened on 14 September last year.

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