Chedworth Roman Villa

Yanworth, nr Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL54 3LJ.
Tel: +44 (0)1242 890256

Visit the website for current opening times and admission charges.

Chedworth Roman Villa Description

Chedworth Roman Villa is sited in beautiful wooded surroundings in the heart of the Cotswolds. The villa complex is the remains of one of Britain's largest Romano-British villas in Britain of which the National Trust has administered it since 1924.

A gamekeeper digging for a ferret accidentally discovered the 1,700-year-old stately home in 1864. After the discovery, the Earl of Eldon who owned the estate financed the archaeological excavations of the villa complex over a two-year period. Lord Eldon also built a small museum on the site to house the discovered artefacts.

During the excavations, archaeologist, Mr James Farrer, discover mosaics, hypocausts, bathhouses and latrines.

With the Roman towns of Glevum and Corinium Dobunnorum nearby and several Roman roads in the area including Ermine Street and the Fosse Way just a few of miles away it is inevitable that several Roman sites have been discovered near to the villa site.

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Chedworth Roman Villa was well established by AD150 and consisted originally of three separate ranges, all of which have been excavated. Archaeologists concluded theat major changes were made to the building during the fourth century, resulting in the villa's grandeur appearance. Other stages of the building of the villa resulted in the 'Garden Court' being created by extending the south and west ranges with additional rooms and open verandahs added. Excavations of the bathhouse in the northern range discovered the hypocaust and highlighted the conversions to dry heat baths, and a new 'Turkish' style damp heat bath and cold plunge bath.

Chedworth Villa’s real delights for the modern visitor are the beautiful mosaics, the best of which survives in the dining room. The mosaics consist of mythical figures of the seasons including Winter, gripping apparently a dead hare, and Spring running with a bird in her hand.

The inhabitants living at the Villa enjoyed all modern luxuries including flushing toilets – with the flush came from a stone water channel which carried fresh running water. The Villa's water shrine or Nymphaeum is fed from the natural spring and still runs along the 4th-century stone channel

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