Rutland Roman villa

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The Rutland Roman villa is a Romano-British villa site in Rutland, England. The site was listed as a scheduled monument by Historic England on 23 November 2021.[1] The villa includes the first example of a mosaic in Britain which depicts scenes from Homer's Iliad.[2]

A geophysical survey of the site in 2021 showed evidence of a large villa complex including indications of a formal garden, a bath house, perhaps a chapel and two mausolea.[3][4]

Discovery[]

The site was first identified from cropmarks visible on Google Earth in June 2018.[1] In 2020 (during the COVID-19 pandemic in England), Jim Irvine, the son of the landowner, identified some "unusual pottery" whilst walking through the site and dug a small trench.[2] Historic England subsequently funded an urgent excavation of the site by University of Leicester Archaeological Service in August 2020.[5]

Villa[]

It dates to the 3rd or 4th century AD and comprises at least seven buildings, including the main villa building, enclosed by a series of ditches.[1]

Mosaic[]

The fragmentary mosaic measures 11 metres (36 ft) by nearly 7 metres (23 ft) and depicts the battle between Achilles and Hector.[5] It is the first example of imagery from the Iliad discovered from Roman Britain.[2]

See also[]

  • Roman villas in Rutland

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Historic England. "Roman villa complex, north of Cuckoo Farm Lodge (1477234)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Roman mosaic and villa complex found in Rutland farmer's field". BBC News. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.
  3. ^ Watson, Greig (4 March 2022). "Rutland mosaic: Surveys reveal large Roman villa complex at site". BBC News. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  4. ^ "New survey reveals extent of Roman villa complex found at Rutland". Heritagedaily.com. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  5. ^ a b "Extraordinary Roman Mosaic and Villa Discovered Beneath Farmer's Field in Rutland, East Midlands". Historic England. 25 November 2021. Retrieved 25 November 2021.

Coordinates: 52°37′01″N 0°34′23″W / 52.61694°N 0.57306°W / 52.61694; -0.57306

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