Hidden in Spoonley Wood near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire are the remains of a Roman villa. It was excavated and heavily restored in the 1880s, but since then nature has returned. Today, its mosaic floor is protected only by a tarpaulin and overgrown corrugated iron shelter #MosaicMonday - ThreadSky

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classicalalan.bsky.social • 6 days ago

Hidden in Spoonley Wood near Winchcombe, Gloucestershire are the remains of a Roman villa. It was excavated and heavily restored in the 1880s, but since then nature has returned. Today, its mosaic floor is protected only by a tarpaulin and overgrown corrugated iron shelter #MosaicMonday

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Comments

xsalty1.bsky.social•6 days ago

Imagine the skill you'd need to lay that mosaic out irl

I love those colours.

classicalalan.bsky.social•6 days ago

Apparently quite a lot of it is Victorian restoration, but I agree it is still pretty impressive.

wittspat.bsky.social•6 days ago

I believe it's all Victorian (the machine-cut tesserae are a give-away!) although recreating the original design.

andyrpglevum.bsky.social•5 days ago

The mosaic and most of the villa you can see is a Victorian reconstruction (as you state) still a lovely site.

classicalalan.bsky.social•5 days ago

Yes very atmospheric, even if the visible stuff is not very old.

mattfrith.bsky.social•6 days ago

Oh amazing. I was wondering about this when I was walking the Cotswold Way last year.

alexsterling.bsky.social•6 days ago

Why does the National Trust not step in?

classicalalan.bsky.social•6 days ago

Money, I would imagine! Also the fact that a lot of what you can see is Victorian restoration rather than original Roman material.

dodoarchaeology.bsky.social•6 days ago

Oh wow! Do you know who owns the land there?

classicalalan.bsky.social•6 days ago

Yes it really is amazing. It was excavated by Emma Dent of Sudeley Castle and I assume it is still part of the Sudeley Estate - but it is fully accessible (if you can find it!).

dodoarchaeology.bsky.social•5 days ago

Thanks! It sounds like it needs some volunteers with shears (and permission of course!). I will look into that!

kevbeachus.bsky.social•6 days ago

Found it years ago..

classicalalan.bsky.social•6 days ago

I struggled to locate it, but luckily bumped into some folk that had just found it and sent me in the right direction.

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