Massive Roman Mosaic Found in Britain

A spectacular Roman mosaic pavement, the 10th largest ever found in Britain and part of a completely unknown rich and substantial villa, has recently been discovered by workmen building a new drive to an office near Ilminster in Somerset. The discovery is being hailed as one of the most important finds from fourth century Britain for half a century.

The mosaic measures 10 by six metres and incorporates a beautiful depiction of a dolphin. This makes the mosaic rare in Britain, where most designs are geometric rather than pictorial. The mosaic came dramatically to light about 10 days ago as workmen began to construct a drive across a paddock at Mill House near the small village of Lopen. The find was totally unexpected as there were no indications of any Roman remains in the field.

English Heritage's Chief Archaeologist David Miles said: "Over the next few days an English Heritage geophysical survey team and experts from Somerset County Council will attempt to establish the full extent of the villa buildings, as yet unknown, before the advent of winter frosts and rain which might damage them. English Heritage will carry out a detailed photographic survey of the mosaic and villa. Discoveries of this type are few and far between but when they do turn up it is crucial that bodies such as English Heritage are able to help record and preserve such sites for future generations."

The site will then be buried again over the winter to protect it. A number of options are being considered for the preservation and conservation of the mosaics in their present location.

The mosaic "pavement" is constructed of tiny red, white and blue blocks of Somerset limestone and tiles (tesserae) in a complicated interlocking geometric pattern with the dolphin at one end. It is thought to form a floor in a large and wealthy villa, possibly of the courtyard variety, built a mile from the Fosse Way (now the A303), which stretched from Lincoln to Exeter and was one of the major routes of Roman Britain. Rare fragments of painted wall plaster, hypocaust tiles from a central heating system and substantial stone roof slates have also been uncovered.

Dr David Neal, a leading mosaic expert who has dated the mosaic to about AD 360 said: "The site was clearly one of considerable status, likely to be a substantial villa. The mosaic is probably from the Corinian school based at Cirencester in Gloucestershire and is a very good example of its work."

The fourth century was the golden age for villas, especially in the prosperous and well-farmed areas of the West Country. Here the rich built comfortable homes, full of the most modern conveniences such as bath suites. Decorative ideas were imported from the Mediterranean and North African parts of the Roman Empire. Some villas became positively palatial, such as at Woodchester in Gloucestershire, where the rooms had columns. A number of villas are known to have existed along the line of the Fosse Way but most of the sites were either damaged by excavations in the 19th and early 20th centuries or have been badly affected by plough damage since the 1960s.

A mosaic floor was one of the best ways of showing off wealth, status and even learning, where classical and literary themes were employed. About 400 have been discovered in Britain and half of these are in the South West, the largest (about 14 metres square) at Woodchester. They were probably laid by groups of mosaicists, known as schools, who used pattern books. The Corinian school was the largest and is known for its distinctive designs based on the Orpheus myth. Somerset County Archaeologist Bob Croft who has been co-ordinating the project, said: "We are amazed at the extent of the mosaics and are delighted that the Osbourne family, which owns the land, invited us in to examine and record them."

The purple and green fragments of painted wall plaster found at Lopen are an extremely rare find. Very few remains of wall paintings have ever come to light in Britain, due to the climate and re-use of stone in later buildings, though we know they were a popular form of decoration for the rich. Some, as at Tarrant Hinton in Dorset, featured aquatic scenes and marble effects. As yet, however, we do not know what subjects the inhabitants of the Lopen villa chose to depict on their walls.

Click for a BBC Report with Photos.