Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Chedworth Roman villa

North wing Columns

In 1864, a gamekeeper stumbled across some mosaic tiles in the forest. It turned out to be the remains of one of the largest roman villas in Britain.

Mosaic floor inside the villa:
Mosaic floor

I studied ancient and medieval history in college. For me, one of the most interesting periods in history is the Dark Ages, from about 400 to 1000 AD. What is so fascinating to me is how far society regressed, and how little is known about the period. How did civilization forget?

One of the most interesting discontinuities in this period is what happened in Britain. Rome had occupied Britain for some 400 years, converting much of what is modern-day England to Christianity in the process. Unlike mainland Europe — France, Spain, and Italy — which retained many Roman characteristics after their conquest by Germans, Britain un-Romanized almost completely with the German invasions from the east. So complete was the de-Romanization, that most people — not scholars of English history — when they think of English history, skip straight from the Celts and druids of old to the Normans of the high Middle Ages. If they’re aware of the Roman occupation at all, it is considered a brief, insignificant event.

But 400 years and the Christianization of the Britain is neither brief nor insignificant.

Chi-rho monogram found etched at the nymphaeum, indicating that the residents of the villa were Christian:
Chi-Rho monogram

We visited the Chedworth Roman villa today, and I really liked it. Although not much of it remains, it has been excavated, and enough of the site is visible to give a very good idea of the size and shape of the villa. It must have been beautiful, and while we don’t know who lived in it for the 300 years it was occupied, its occupants must have been rich, and probably powerful. The villa had elaborate mosaics, underfloor heating, and two exquisite bath systems.

We had been planning to visit Bath this trip, to see the Roman ruins there, but Chedworth has scratched the Roman “itch” in us that we no longer feel like we have to. If we had unlimited time, certainly we would visit Bath, but when traveling with children, we can’t just go and look at ruins; children are not interested in that. Chedworth is not so large that children will get bored of it, and they are able to run around the entire complex (though they are discouraged from climbing on the ruins). The National Trust has activity bags to keep the children occupied as they walk around the site (example: find a Roman snail, a species of snail introduced to England by the Romans; make a daisy chain from the flowers growing in the villa).

Roman snails

Chedworth Roman villa is not easy to get to, since it involves driving on one-lane English country roads, but the drive is beautiful and well worth it.

As a member of the National Trust, admission is free, so I give it a strong recommendation for families traveling with children.

Model showing how the villa would have looked intact prior to its abandonment in 410 AD:
Model showing how the villa would have looked intact before it was abandoned in 410 AD

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