The Trilinium, Fishbourne Roman Palace

The Triclinium at Fishbourne Roman Palace is a reconstruction of the formal Roman dining room that once formed part of the largest Roman residence discovered north of the Alps. Set within the palace complex just outside Chichester in West Sussex, the display recreates the sights of a first-century dining space, complete with sloping couches for reclining, low serving tables, painted walls and replica tableware. It gives visitors a direct sense of how the palace's wealthy occupants would have entertained guests over long, several-course meals.

The wider palace was built around AD 75, on a scale suggesting a very high-status owner, possibly the client king Tiberius Claudius Cogidubnus. What survives today, protected beneath a modern cover building, is one of the finest collections of in-situ Roman mosaic floors in Britain, including the famous Cupid on a Dolphin mosaic. The Triclinium sits alongside the mosaics, formal gardens and museum galleries as one of the palace's most vivid interpretive set-pieces.

A visit typically combines the Triclinium with the mosaic floors, the archaeological museum, and the restored Roman garden outside, which has been replanted using species known from the original bedding trenches. Allow around two hours to see everything at a reasonable pace. The site is run by the Sussex Archaeological Society and lies a short walk from Fishbourne railway station.