Historic England and University of Leicester Archaeological Services find out more about Roman villa complex unearthed in Rutland field

Archaeologists have made more significant finds after unearthing a Roman villa complex hidden beneath a farmer's field.

Historic England commissioned a £193,000 excavation in a Rutland field to gain deeper insights into the lives of Romans who lived in the county thousands of years ago.

The historic villa complex had lay hidden beneath Rutland soil for about 1,500 years until the 2020 lockdown when Jim Irvine, son of landowner Brian Naylor, found pieces of pottery that had been unearthed by a plough.

Experts from University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) got to work on the site and first found artwork depicting scenes from Trojan war epic The Iliad in a dig in 2021. It was the first mosaic of its kind ever found in Britain.

Left with many unanswered questions about the site, archaeologists returned to the Roman villa this summer and unearthed further mosaics and fragments of décor.

Historic England’s chief executive, Duncan Wilson, said: “This is a fascinating site and has posed many questions about life in Roman Britain.

"The answers will become clearer as the evidence is examined over the next few years by a team of specialists, and their work will help us understand the story of this villa complex, and its significance for our understanding of Roman Britain.”

Already the team has gathered insight into the complex, which was occupied in the late Roman period, between the 3rd and 4th century and was home to wealthy owners who took interior inspiration from Rome.

In the latest excavation the team covered a wider area to investigate multiple buildings.

A building, similar in size to a small church, revealed a large and well-preserved structure which probably started out as an agricultural, timber barn.

It was converted to stone in the 3rd or 4th Century and one end turned into a living area, while the other end was retained for agricultural or craft work.

It is believed to have been one of Britain's earliest barn conversions.

A stand-out feature for archeologists was a Roman-style bath suite consisting of a steam room, a warm room and a cold plunge pool.

There is evidence of 'sophisticated' underfloor heating which used different techniques to maintain varying temperatures and heating ducts built into the walls.

Although the team cannot conclude if the owners were from overseas or native to Rutland, the findings indicate that the occupiers were making lifestyle choices to associate themselves culturally with the Roman Empire.

John Thomas, deputy director of ULAS and project manager of ULAS excavations, said: “It’s difficult to overstate the significance of this Roman villa complex to our understanding of life in late Roman Britain.

"While previous excavations of individual buildings or smaller scale villas, have given us a snapshot, this discovery in Rutland is much more complete and provides a clearer picture of the whole complex.

"The aim of this year’s work has been to investigate other buildings within the overall villa complex to provide context to the Trojan War mosaic.

"While that is a wonderful, eye-catching discovery, we will be able to learn much more about why it was here, and who might have commissioned it, by learning about the villa as a whole."

The team also returned to where the Trojan War mosaic was found to put it into context with the rest of the villa.

They believe the mosaic was laid out in a dining room, which was within what appears to have been the main villa building.

Painted wall plaster, fragments of polished marble and broken stone columns hint at the grand decoration in the room to accompany the mosaic – some of which would have been imported materials, indicating the considerable wealth and influence of the villa’s owners.

The dining room was a later addition to the main villa building, suggesting that the owners wanted to show off their wealth and knowledge of Roman culture by building a new area for feasting.

Through the latest excavation it was also revealed that further mosaics would have been in the floors of corridors leading to the dining room.

In the eastern corridor a well-preserved mosaic with a kaleidoscopic geometric design was found and is thought to be of a similar date to the Trojan War mosaic.

Ian Barnes, Historic England senior archaeologist and excavation project manager, said: “This year’s excavations by Historic England and ULAS have further revealed what a remarkable place this was during Roman times.

"A place built for comfort, and clearly to impress – but who?

“I’m looking forward to the analysis of our findings, which will tell us so much more about the people who lived here, and their connections."