Chedworth Roman Villa
About
Chedworth grew into one of the largest Roman villas in Britain, passing through at least six building phases before reaching its 4th-century peak of bath suites, a dining hall, and courtyard mosaics. The first farm buildings on the site went up around 120 CE, three plain ranges and a bathhouse for a working Romano-British estate. A fire in the early 3rd century forced a rebuild, and the grand villa visitors see today only took shape in the 300s. On the day Trajan died in August 117 CE the hillside above the River Coln was still open Cotswold pasture; Chedworth's first walls rose just a few years later.
What happened here
A working estate with a comfortable house attached, and the proportions vary with how rich the owner is and how often he visits. The farm side has presses for oil and wine, threshing floors, storage sunk into the ground, stables and quarters for the workforce. The residential side has baths, dining rooms sited for the view, mosaics, and a garden with water in it. A manager runs the place year-round and reports; the owner arrives for the vintage and for the summer. Produce goes to market or to the owner's town house, and the accounts are kept in detail. Some villas are pure retreat with no farm at all, built on a cliff or a lake specifically to be looked at from a boat.
Sources
Nearby
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Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →