Chedworth Roman Villa

Our first visit after leaving Tewkesbury was to have been a major long barrow--a neolithic burial site--out in the countryside. Alas, as the one-lane road narrowed, we came upon some road work and were told the road was impassable. A local person volunteered the site had been there for 6,000 years and probably would still be there when we get back this way. We've seen long barrows before (e.g., West Kennet), and so weren't particularly disappointed. We turned around and headed for Chedworth Roman Villa, another National Trust site, more or less in the Cotswolds.

We have pulled over into the "passing bay"; a moment before
we had been joking that, well, we certainly won't see any
tour buses on this little lane 

Chedworth is one of some thirty Roman villas in the
Cotswolds region; above is an artist's conception; it was
discovered and crudely excavated in Victorian times;
research and preservation continue under the National
Trust

Most of the better mosaics, etc., are in this building, built
to protect them; one mostly thinks of Britain as an outpost
of Roman civilization; but they were here for nearly 500
years, plenty long enough to build a substantial economy
and society, and to have country villas like this one

Thus; reception area

And thus

And thus; note under-floor heating

Family areas

Octagonal water feature, water from a spring up the hill

More of the villa ruins

Another large room with under-floor heating

In the little museum

The guide called this a "Roman snail," telling us that the
Romans brought these snails to Britain as a food delicacy;
protected species now; looks like good eatin' to me

Not Roman but nonetheless interesting: a
yellow Buckeye tree has been grafted onto
a regular Horse Chestnut tree (same, pretty
much, as the Ohio state tree)

Poppies in a field along the road