Pinched from the other side From the Gloucestrshire Echo: Channel 4’s Time Team have unearthed some fascinating ancient finds in Britain’s fields. But the discovery of their latest Roman settlement in the Cotswolds was not the result of academic research. Instead, experts on the TV show have moles to thank for digging up stones from an ancient villa. They burrowed their way through a remote, unploughed two-acre field near Withington – and churned up what looked like unremarkable stone cubes. When local archaeologist Roger Box stumbled across the molehills by chance, he had a hunch they marked the spot of a major hidden treasure. Recognising the stones as mosaic cubes, he called in the Time Team. Roger and the team knew that renowned antiquarian Samuel Lysons had uncovered a villa nearby in 1811.They thought the mosaics were from a bath house attached to the lost Lysons villa. But geo-physics surveys uncovered a massive Roman complex completely unrelated to Lysons’ find. Roger said he had worried that the molehill mosaics would turn out to just be debris. He said: “But in minutes, geo-physics identified interesting anomalies, thought to be buildings. “Phil Harding opened up a trench and immediately a Roman mosaic pavement appeared. “I was filled with relief that my instincts had proved correct and away we went. We knew we were in business. “Initially we thought we were looking at a temple or bath house, probably associated with the main Lysons’ villa. “High arched blocks began to appear, suggesting a building with a vaulted ceiling, plastered and painted with frescos inside. “We found a geometric mosaic floor pattern with a hypocaust heating system, showing we were dealing with a high-status bath house.” Then geo-physics threw up a large stone-lined plunge pool. But the greatest shock was yet to come in the last half hour of the three-day project. Geo-phys teams finally located the Lysons villa 300m away. They also uncovered a massive complex stretching in the opposite direction from the Withington site. Roger said: “The geo-phys team extended the survey away from the bath house and found a massive Roman building complex. “It caught all the experts off-guard because it’s extremely unusual to find two Roman villas – this one and Lysons – so close to each other. “This makes the potential complex bigger than Chedworth.” Roger, who lives near the site, was amazed by the find on his own doorstep. Post-excavation work has been carried out by Neil Holbrooke of Cotswold Archaeological Trust in Kemble. The Time Team’s preliminary digs have been filled in and Roger expects the villas to remain underground because excavating them would be so expensive. Roger added: “The archaeology to uncover them again would cost a fortune. But the find has gone further to confirming that the parish of Withington is a surviving Roman estate.” Villas out of Molehills will be shown at 5.45pm on Channel 4 on January 29.
“It’s extremely unusual to find two Roman villas – this one and Lysons – so close to each other.”