Spoonley Wood Roman Villa

Structural remains had been noticed in the wood before 1877, but it was only in 1882 that workmen, searching for stone, uncovered one of the rooms of the villa.^[4] The site was in the ownership of Emma Dent, the owner of nearby Sudeley Castle, who had a mosaic lifted and moved to the castle.^[5] The site was subsequently excavated by the antiquarians John Henry Middleton and William Bazeley.^[4] For two years the site lay open, during which time it was damaged by frost, rabbits, and visitors.^[5] In response to the damage, Emma Dent chose to partially rebuild the walls, up to 1.8 metres high in places on the east and south sides, and to reconstruct two of the remaining mosaics and cover them with wooden sheds.^[4] The huts had become ruinous by 1945,^[1] and in 1976 it was reported that "the sheds have now collapsed and the remains are suffering from weather and from the encroaching wood."^[4]

Finds from the excavations included a silver-plated bronze bowl, a large number of 3rd- and 4th-century coins, samian ware pottery, iron knives and tools.^[6] Most of the finds are at Sudeley Castle.^[6] A column base is in Gloucester Museum and three pottery lamps are in Cheltenham Museum.^[6] A marble statue of Bacchus, from a grave, is now in the British Museum.^[1]

As of 2013 the site is obscured by the trees of Spoonley Wood, but the walls are still clearly visible,^[6] and one of the reconstructed mosaics can be viewed "protected beneath a small corrugated iron roof and some plastic sheeting held in place with stones".^[7] The villa can be reached via a 2 km walk from the car park of Sudeley Castle.^[7]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spoonley Wood Roman Villa.

• Winchcombe’s Roman mosaic walk, at Winchcombe Welcomes Walkers