Tag: Gloucestershire

Roman Villa Discovered Near Tewkesbury

A previously unknown Roman villa has been discovered in England by archaeologists excavating an area in preparation for a pipeline to be laid near Tewkesbury. The excavation has uncovered part of a wealthy Roman villa north of Bredons Norton in Gloucestershire. Two burials pre-dating the villa have also been discovered.

According to Stuart Foreman, an archaeologist from Oxford Archaeology, the most likely dating of the villa is the late-third to the mid-fourth centuries AD. He said: So far we have discovered a masonry building with plaster walls. It’s not impossible that it’s a shrine, but the most likely explanation is that it is a villa. The bit we have exposed is well preserved, with intact flagstone flooring and walls. He explained that the plaster walls were painted with a simple design in dark red and cream colours an indication that the building’s owners were wealthy. The part of the building that has been exposed is built on a terrace cut into a hillside.

Pottery and two coins have been found at the site. The pottery is mainly from the Severn Valley and the Malvern area. The coins are the best indicator that the villa was occupied during the fourth century AD. Mr Foreman added: We haven’t had a huge number of coins from the site, I think because it’s always been a popular spot for metal detectors. But the two coins we have are from the mid fourth century AD. One of them shows the emperor Magnentius and his brother or son, with whom he ruled from 350-353 AD.

Mr Foreman was quoted by thisisgloucestershire as saying: Whenever you find a new villa, it’s of national importance. It’s pretty unusual to find a new villa that hasn’t been recognised before.

Roman Villas in the Cotswolds

There are quite a few Roman villas dotted around the Cotswolds, many of them would have belonged to rich families connected to Cirencester, the capital of Britannia Prima in the fourth century AD.

It’s not impossible that it’s a shrine, but the most likely explanation is that it is a country villa. The bit we have exposed is well preserved, with intact flagstone flooring and walls

Within a 20-mile radius of Cirencester, there are approximately 30 Roman villas, including the well known ones such as Chedworth and Hucclecote and smaller sites such as Barnsley Park Roman villa, Bibury, Clear Cupboard, Spoonley, Wadfield, Rodmarton, Barnes Green and Withington.

The mid-third century was a disturbed period for the Roman empire and, according to Stuart Foreman, the Cotswolds, around Cirencester, was something of a haven from some of the military turbulence that was happening in Britain and the rest of the empire. The ‘third century crisis’ played out during the greater part of the third century AD (from 235-284 AD).

There is no clear evidence of who would have lived in the villa. At this stage, itis impossible to say whether they were part of the Roman elite, settled military personnel or a Romano-British family who had made their fortune.

Two Burials

Two burials have also been found at the site. One is a crouched inhumation but no objects or material have been found in the burial, so the date could range from the Iron Age to Anglo-Saxon times. It’s about 150m away from the villa.

The second burial is an Iron Age cremation. According to Mr Foreman, both burials are pretty much what you would expect from late Iron Age or Roman burials.

Making Way for a Water Supply Security Pipe

Although the site being excavated is a 15m-wide strip, which is being prepared for a pipeline to be laid, the Roman villa is thought to extend much further and part of it is likely to be buried beneath the village of Bredons Norton. Geophysical surveys will have to be carried out to establish the exact layout of the villa.

The pipe is being laid as part of the Gloucester security water supply pipeline, managed by Severn Trent Water.

Roman Villa and Saxon Minster Discovered in Gloucestershire

Evidence of an imperial Roman villa has been discovered in Gloucestershire, England – just hours before archaeologists were due to fill its trench back up. The remains, a large quantity of Roman wall plaster, were found last Friday (June 11) as a Bristol University team led by TV archaeologists Dr Stuart Prior and Prof Mark Horton were winding up work at the site, which has already offered proof of Saxon settlement.

The remains, in the grounds of Berkeley’s Edward Jenner Museum, also include Roman coins and roof tiles. The villa is likely to date from the 3rd or 4th century AD, and could even be an imperial settlement of Romans from nearby Gloucester. The last-ditch Roman relics were discovered after the team had already found evidence of extensive religious activity during the Anglo-Saxon period, around the 9th or 10th century.

“In the closing moments of the dig we found the best evidence yet that a Roman villa lay under Berkeley, probably under the church,” Prof Horton, a presenter on BBC series Coast, tells the Gloucestershire Gazette. “We are lucky that on this site the soil is clay because it preserves things beautifully so we have had some finds in very good condition.”

“This is a really exciting find.”

Horton and Prior believe the Saxon settlement may have been a minster, a walled religious community, where high status women lived. Saxon artefacts at the site include a belt-strap with the face of a dragon, and a road leading to nearby St. Mary’s Church.

However it is the team’s last-ditch Roman discovery which will keep them coming back to Berkeley. “This is a really exciting find,” says Dr Prior. “We will come back next year to Berkeley because there is definitely more Roman finds waiting to be discovered.”

Prof Horton isn’t the only TV expert making waves in the archaeological world this week. Tony Robinson, presenter of lonstanding archaeology show Time Team, has been singing the praises of Scotland’s ancient heritage. A recent Time Team special uncovered several secrets surrounding Stonehenge, Britain’s best-loved ancient landmark.

Goth Pirate Puzzle Solved in Gloucestershire

A longstanding mystery has been laid to rest this week, as experts finally solved the riddle of a 1,600-year-old body discovered in Gloucestershire 37 years ago. The identity of the 25-30-year-old man, unearthed in a mausoleum in Kingsholm Square in 1972, had long evaded archaeologists. Yet now thanks to chemical testing, a team has revealed him to have been an eastern European Goth warrior from around 400 AD.

The man’s lavish burial includes a silver belt buckle and inlaid knife from the Balkans and southern Russia, which show him to have been someone of high rank – experts believe he may have been a Goth mercenary hired by the Roman Army, whose capital city fell to Alaric’s Visigoths just ten years later in 410 AD.

David Rice of Gloucester City Museum thinks the warrior may have been employed to warn off potential pirates: “Archaeologists have always wondered who he was and what he was doing in Gloucester. We’ve discovered he came from way outside of the Roman Empire, from the other side of the Danube.

“Were there pirates coming up the River Severn?”

“It was possible to detect he lived in very cold regions as a child, before moving west,” adds Mr Rice. “To have such an unusual person in this city means that Gloucester was a more important place in Roman times than we’ve previously thought. Perhaps there were pirates coming up the River Severn?”