North Leigh Roman Villa

In North Leigh in England ( Oxfordshire ) the remains of an important Roman villa have been excavated. Especially in the fourth century AD, the building had almost palatial proportions and one of the largest villas in Roman Britain.

The villa was located about one kilometer south of the " Akeman Street," an important Roman road that Verulamium (St Albans ) with Dobunnorum Corinium ( Cirencester ) combined. At the location of the villa, there were already in Celtic times a farmhouse whose modest remains were observed. By 100 AD there was a Roman villa consists of two buildings, perhaps the actual villa and a more economical use construction.

In the fourth century the building was greatly expanded and richly decorated. The villa now consisted of three long buildings, grouped around an open courtyard. At the front side there was a long, well covered walkway with a gate. The Villa at that time had more than 60 rooms, including a bathroom, a kitchen area and a foyer belonged. This lobby was decorated with a great mosaic that is still to be seen on site. Other mosaics have been removed. A total of 16 mosaics were discovered in the 19th century. Some rooms had a hypocaust.

The remains were described in 1783. First excavations took place already from 1813 to 1816. Further excavations it was shortly before the First World War and then in the 1970s. On the basis of aerial photographs were other buildings especially in the south can be observed. The villa can be visited today.