Investigations at Rutland Roman Villa

The Rutland Roman Villa was first discovered in August 2020 by the son of one of the landowners who uncovered a small area of mosaic when digging after becoming curious about the field. It was immediately apparent that their discovery was of some importance, and they informed the archaeological team at Leicestershire County Council, the heritage advisors to Rutland County Council.

Historic England funded an archaeological investigation of the site which was carried out by University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) in 2020, to establish the nature of the archaeology, and to assess the risk to the remains from the current farming.

The 2020 archaeological work, combined with Historic England funded geophysical and aerial survey undertaken by SUMO Geophysics, and aerial mapping undertaken by Historic England, demonstrated that the site comprised an elaborate villa complex enclosed by a ditch system. The complex was broadly dated to the mid-late 3rd to the late 4th century AD, with hints of earlier activity.

ULAS ran two field school excavations through June and July 2022 to both investigate the site, and to train University of Leicester students and local volunteers. Historic England staff from Archaeological Investigation and Investigative Science led further work on the site in August and September, in collaboration with ULAS staff, when a number of new trenches were opened to answer questions over the wider complex of buildings and their state of preservation.

Several of the buildings identified by the geophysics were investigated and it was clear that these were substantial and well adorned buildings, built to impress as well as be used. One of the buildings was represented by large sections of collapsed, but still intact, bonded masonry sealed by a deep uniform deposit: post-excavation analysis will hopefully shed light on whether this was the result of decay and collapse or whether this was a deliberate demolition and covering, perhaps as part of a remodelling of the villa.

The work in late summer 2022 saw Historic England and ULAS staff work seamlessly together to manage and mentor over 100 students, volunteers and staff on Continuing Professional Development (CPD) over a 7 week period. Historic England and ULAS staff were joined by 14 Trench, Finds and Environmental Supervisors, most seconded from commercial organisations, who took on the responsibility of training the rolling programme of volunteers, students and CPD staff.

A key project aim was to widen access to archaeology, through training and collaboration. To measure this all staff and volunteers were interviewed when they joined and given the chance to feedback when they left. This data will now be analysed to assess the impact of the project on staff and how in future such work could perhaps be more tailored to individual needs.

Now the excavations are complete, and the trenches backfilled the field will revert to farmland, just as it has been since the villa faded from the landscape. Given what we learned during the excavations the field won’t be ploughed but will still be productive, ensuring the villa, which was hardly touched by the excavations, survives for generations to come.