Stonesfield Roman villa was a substantial rural villa in Oxfordshire, occupied principally during the 2nd to 4th centuries AD. It is best known for its remarkable mosaic pavements, including a celebrated figured Bacchus mosaic, indicating a wealthy proprietor engaged in agricultural estate management in the Cotswold limestone belt.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The villa lay within a dense pattern of prosperous Cotswold villas (including North Leigh, Ditchley and Shakenoak) supplying Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester) and the Akeman Street corridor, reflecting the agricultural wealth of late Roman central Britain. Its mosaics place it among the more elite establishments associated with the Corinian school of mosaicists.
First discovered in 1712 when ploughing exposed the Bacchus mosaic, with further pavements recorded by antiquarian Thomas Hearne and later destroyed or reburied; no modern open-area excavation has occurred. Geophysical and field survey have suggested a corridor or winged-corridor villa plan, but much of the structural detail remains poorly recorded compared to neighbouring North Leigh.
Stonesfield Roman villa was a substantial rural villa in Oxfordshire, occupied principally during the 2nd to 4th centuries AD. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a villa site from the Roman period in Britain.
Stonesfield Roman villa is classified as a Roman villa — a civilian site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Stonesfield (0.6 km), North Leigh (1.6 km), Oaklands Farm Roman villa (2 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
Aubrey Research generates detailed historical reports for any location in Britain, incorporating Roman heritage, Domesday Book records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and much more. Enter a nearby address to begin.
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any address in Britain — drawing on Roman heritage, Domesday records, scheduled monument data, archaeological finds and medieval history to reveal the complete story of a landscape.
Research the area around Stonesfield Roman villa