Woodchester was an exceptionally large and luxurious Romano-British villa in the Cotswolds, occupied from the 2nd century AD and reaching its monumental peak in the 4th century. With around 64 rooms arranged around three courtyards, it ranks among the largest known villas in Roman Britain, comparable in scale to Mediterranean palatial residences such as Chedworth and North Leigh.
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
The villa lay at the heart of the wealthy late Roman estate landscape of the lower Severn Vale, an area whose prosperity was built on sheep farming, wool, and the textile industry centred on nearby Corinium (Cirencester). Its scale and opulence have led some scholars to suggest it may have been an imperial estate centre or the residence of a particularly prominent landowner, rather than a typical working villa.
The site is famous for the "Great Pavement," a polychrome mosaic roughly 14.7 m square depicting Orpheus charming the beasts — the largest mosaic north of the Alps and a product of the 4th-century Corinian school. First excavated by Samuel Lysons in 1793–96 and reburied beneath the parish churchyard, it has rarely been re-exposed; geophysical survey and limited modern fieldwork have confirmed the layout but the bulk of the structure remains under the church and surrounding ground.
Woodchester was an exceptionally large and luxurious Romano-British villa in the Cotswolds, occupied from the 2nd century AD and reaching its monumental peak in the 4th century. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a villa site from the Roman period in Britain.
Woodchester 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 Frocester (5.4 km), Romano-British farmstead 200m south west of Longman's Barn Farm (5.4 km), Uley (6.2 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 Woodchester