Fishbourne Roman Palace starts brush-up for 2,000-year-old mosaics

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.

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.

Work ahead of reopening is focused on the Cupid riding on a dolphin mosaic, which was first laid in AD150.