villas

A life on the tiles: Exploring the work of David Neal as artist and archaeologist

David Neal’s name is synonymous with Romano-British mosaics: since 1960, he has documented every new discovery (more recently in collaboration with Stephen Cosh). His meticulous records and reconstructions fill the five-volume corpus of Roman Mosaics of Britain published by the Society of Antiquaries between 2002 and 2024 (see CA 223). Based on his new autobiography, Chris Catling reports on David’s formative years and the people who led him to a life in archaeology.

Evolution of a Romano-British Courtyard Villa: excavations at the former Dings Crusaders Rugby Ground, Stoke Gifford, 2016-2018

REVIEW BY TONY WILMOTT This volume describes the archaeology of some four centuries of the life of a rural farm/villa of modest wealth. It is also accompanied by a highly accessible GIS resource at The settlement developed from an…

Villas, Sanctuaries, and Settlement in the Romano-British Countryside

REVIEW BY NEIL HOLBROOK Did all the buildings in the Roman countryside that we call ‘villas’ perform the same function? Were they mostly nicely appointed homes of people who had done well at farming, or country residences of the well-to-do…

Excavations at Chester: Roman land division and a probable villa in the hinterland of Deva – excavation at Saighton Army Camp, Huntington, Chester

Review by Andrew Tibbs The importance of Chester in the Roman period cannot be overestimated. Not only was it an important military centre with the establishment of a legionary fortress (Deva) in the 1st century, but the subsequent development of…

1200px Cubiculum (bedroom) from the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor at Boscoreale DP170959

The Past

This week: Roman frescoes

Over the past few centuries of European history, we have grown used to the notion of the artist as celebrity. As far back as the Italian Renaissance, Leonardo and Michelangelo were famous in their own lifetimes. More recently, we can…

Below Marble Hill in Twickenham is one of the last survivors of a grand neighbourhood of Georgian villas that once stood beside the Thames.

Restoring Marble Hill: how archaeology helped to revive a Georgian gem

When Henrietta Howard (née Hobart) built her Thames-side country house in Twickenham in the 1720s, it represented so much more than a fashionable escape from the bustle of court life: it was a refuge from her abusive marriage, and a sign of hard-won independence. With the house and its grounds now restored to their Georgian glory, and the site reopening to the public, Carly Hilts visited to find out more.

Mosaics in Roman Britain

Review by Stephen R Cosh. Anthony Beeson has been among those at the forefront of mosaic research in Britain for many years, particularly on mythological subjects. This little book is very much a personal journey and summarises his own research…

Metal detecting in progress on a Time Team dig

The Past

This week: Time Team

Last year, we could barely contain our excitement at news that Time Team, the much-loved archaeology series that became a long-running Sunday-afternoon TV favourite, was planning to pick up its trowel again after a near-decade-long hiatus.

The Romans in the Nene Valley

Review by CH. This engaging overview of archaeological evidence in the Nene Valley spans the Iron Age to the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. Although relatively slim at 72 pages, it is packed with information and richly illustrated, drawing on the…

A Biography of Power: research and excavations at the Iron Age oppidum of Bagendon, Gloucestershire (1979-2017)

Bagendon has long been the poor relation of British late Iron Age oppida, lurking on the distribution’s western fringe. Its extensive, intermittent ramparts have long been known, but only in the 1950s did limited excavations reveal its character. Tom Moore’s…