Palace destroyed by fire

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Around AD 270, the great palace at Fishbourne was destroyed by a fire that was intense enough to bake the clay walls and shatter the mosaic floors. Whether the fire was accidental or deliberate is unknown. The ruins were never rebuilt on the same scale, and the site gradually reverted to agricultural use. The destruction ended nearly two centuries of grand occupation and began a long period during which the palace was forgotten, buried beneath the soil of the coastal plain.