Sudeley, a Roman Villa and Snowshill

I am away again... not sure how that happened.

I had a nice cooked breakfast at the Cotswolds Outpost and then went to Sudeley Castle. Sudley started to be built in 1443 it was later seized by the crown and was owned by Edward IV and Richard III (there is a banqueting hall (now ruined) built by Richard. I guess its most famous resident was Catherine Parr who is buried in the church in the garden (I think she is the only English Queen buried in a parish church). 

The sculpture trail is 

the latest chapter in a CoExistence campaign that began during the pandemic when a giant herd of elephant sculptures started a global migration from Sudeley. This year, ten returning elephants are joined by a two-by-two procession of our best-loved and iconic animals from all over the world. Each new creation is beautifully made in natural materials such as pampas grass, bark and flowers by All for Love London, a leading, internationally known florist.

Great idea and if it helps turn people especially the young on to wildlife conservation then I'm all for it.

I arrived back at the entrance and picked up a roll for lunch. 

Now as you know I listen to a lot of podcasts and the excellent Partial Historians podcast mentioned Great Witcombe Roman Villa to me on twitter and as I have never been.... 

Now it is not one of the great villas of the world but it is still pretty big hell most of us would like a house that big (well if I had the cleaning staff ;) ) Apparently a field walk in 2000 found that it is one of the largest Villas in Roman Britain.

It was built a round 250 CE and lived into until the 5th century. The remains include a bathhouse complex and perhaps the shrine of a water spirit (you can still hear running water, very evocative). Mosaic pavements (preserved within a modern building) hint at the villa’s opulence in Roman times.

One of the things that I find really interesting is how we are still discovering Roman remains and it much more integrated into the Empire than was once thought. Bear in mind the people living here were probably British who had fully integrated into the Roman way of life.

For those of you wanting to read a lot more about this please click here.

Alas the mosaics were not on display and I can't find any advertised dates for it! Annoyingly the other EH villa in the area with a mosaic (North Leigh) will be open over the weekend of 23/24th July.

So I headed to Snowshill for the obligatory scone and a coffee ;)

I've been many times before so just wandered around the gardens.

I am now in the pub contemplating a pint, a glass of vino and some food :)