Experts believe they’ve discovered Roman villa remains near Chipping Campden

Archaeologists believe they may have found the remains of a Roman villa not far from Chipping Campden.

Excavation work has been carried out at Willersey following the discovery of two iron Roman cavalry swords during a metal detecting two years ago.

Historic England said this week that they conducted geophysical surveys of the area which revealed the possibility of extensive prehistoric, and Romano-British remains.

Excavations found evidence of settlements spanning several centuries. These include three or four Iron Age ring ditches, a substantial rectangular enclosure, and remains of Roman limestone buildings, which could be a villa.

More archaeological work is required, and Historic England could then recommend to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) that the site be protected as a scheduled monument.

It is believed the long swords or “spatha” were used by the Romans on horseback from early in the second century AD through to the third century AD.

They are contemporary with the villa, but it is not known how they came to be there.

Ian Barnes, senior archaeologist at Historic England, said: “This excavation provides valuable insights into the nature of settlement patterns from the Early Iron Age through to the Roman period in Gloucestershire.

“This new evidence will help us to understand more about what happened around the period of the Roman Conquest, which must have been a tumultuous time.”

The swords, which were found by metal detectorist Glenn Manning, were donated to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester and will be on display from 2nd August.