HER 6708 DESCRIPTION:- Scheduled Monument Description: Summary of Monument The buried remains of a Romano-British villa complex, including a mosaic dating from the late 2nd to early 3rd century AD and a site of industrial tile production. Reasons for Designation The Romano-British villa at Coberley is scheduled for the following principal reasons: Documentation: extensive records of previous investigations including a geophysical survey and an excavation and evaluation report are available, having increased our understanding and knowledge of this site and enhanced its level of significance as an example of a Romano-British villa complex. Group value: it stands in a prominent position 2.5 km from the Roman road connecting Gloucester (Glevum) and Cirencester (Corinium), within an area well known for Romano-British villas. Survival/Condition: a particularly good example of a Romano-British villa that survives well in the form of buried archaeological features, including the remains of a mosaic dating from the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD. History Romano-British villas were rural settlements of domestic, agricultural and occasionally industrial buildings that were constructed throughout the Roman period, from the first to the fourth centuries AD. One of the key criterion of a villa is that it was a rural establishment, independent of larger settlements. They seem to have been a fundamental part of the model of Romanisation, with the spread of a villa-owning elite typically at the centre of an agricultural estate. Villas are often thought of as high-status buildings, with hypocausts, architectural ornamentation and baths as common features. Interestingly though, most excavated sites in Britain appear to have developed from simpler, perhaps ‘lower status’, to ‘higher status’ or more substantial buildings. The term 'villa' is now commonly used to describe either the estate or the buildings themselves. Villas are found throughout lowland Britain and occasionally beyond. The least elaborate served as simple farmhouses whilst, for the most complex, the term 'palace' is not inappropriate. Most were partly or wholly stone-built, many with a timber-framed superstructure on masonry footings. Roofs were generally tiled and the house could feature tiled or mosaic floors, underfloor heating, wall plaster, glazed windows and cellars. Ancillary buildings may include workshops, storage for agricultural produce and accommodation for farm labourers and were typically arranged around or alongside a courtyard, surrounded by paddocks, pens, yards and features such as granaries, threshing floors, wells and hearths. Coberley villa is situated within a field marked on the 1839 Tithe Map and Apportionment as 'Whitelands' to the north-east of Cowley. It was first recorded by the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments of England in 1976 (RCHME 1976,3 4), and the discovery of a number of Romano-British artefacts in this area during the 1970s and 1980s has also been documented. In 2002-3 metal detectorists reported finding further artefacts and part of a geometric mosaic. Following the discovery, salvage recording by Gloucestershire County Council recovered evidence of a large mosaic dating to the late C2nd or early C3rd AD. In 2004 a geophysical survey of the site produced evidence for the layout of the site and the plan of the building indicating the presence of a principal building that is H-shaped on plan. The survey also identified areas of burnt material and large quantities of rubble in the area as well as evidence for a road that approached the villa from the east. Artefacts recovered from the site indicate that the villa was occupied during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Further excavations were undertaken in 2007 by Channel 4's Time Team, providing additional evidence of the extent and character of the Roman remains, and demonstrating the evolution of the complex from a corridor structure into a winged villa. It also provided evidence for the on-site production of tile (and possibly brick) to the south-east of the main villa building. There is no clear evidence for the date of abandonment of the site, but pottery (both coarse and fine-wares) and coin finds indicate that the site continued to be in use well into the late Roman period. Details Coberley villa lies c2.5km north-east of Ermin Street, connecting Gloucester (Glevum) and Cirencester (Corinium). It is positioned on a partly artificial plateau, bounded by a steep wooded bank that runs down to the River Churn on the west side. The site includes the known extent of the villa complex, including the buried foundations of an evolved H-shaped villa building, a series of fields, and evidence of industrial activity including a kiln, set within a rectangular enclosure and approached by a road from the east. The principal villa building is oriented east-west and measures circa 75m by 50m. Building material recovered during excavation (2007) includes stone; a few bricks; box flue tiles (part of the sophisticated heating system); and stone and clay roof tiles. A Roman mosaic, found during excavation, is dated from the late 2nd to early 3rd century AD, based on stylistic evidence, and is considered to have been situated within the triclinium, or dining room, of the villa. Its design, using coloured tesserae, is based on a grid of squares, probably three by three, each containing a motif including flowers, a guilloche knot and a cup. Both monochrome and polychrome wall plaster fragments were also found suggesting a rich decorative scheme. Evidence of industrial tile production was found in the south-east corner of the villa complex, circa 100m to the east of the villa building. This includes the remains of a kiln, thought to have been used for on-site production of tile specifically for the villa. The excavation (2007) uncovered a series of limestone walls, the remnants of a flue and roof tiles. The geophysical survey (2004) shows that the villa is set within a rectangular, ditched, enclosure. The wider villa complex is also bounded by further ditches to the south and east. A central break in the eastern boundary, probably an entrance, gives access to a double-ditched road. Aerial photography (1975) shows this approach to the villa extended further eastwards beyond the current A435. Exclusions All fence posts are excluded from the scheduling, but the ground beneath these features however, is included. {Source Work 10426.} 1976 - A Romano British settlement, extending over about 12 acres on ground that slopes gently to the west to a steep edge, and lies some 50ft above the River Churn, between two re-entrant gullies down which springs occasionally send water. The ground between the gullies is almost flat and is demarcated on the south by a sharp, stone-covered scarp, up to 5ft high. Here, in an area measuring about 200 yards east - west and 70 yards north - south, there are traces of platforms, spread rubble (some in lines), and a notable concentration of other debris including flue and roof tiles, fragments of pilae, tesserae and large quantities of sandstone. Lesser concentrations occur over most of the remainder of the modern arable field; and extend as far as the road on the east, but end sharply along the south re-entrant gully. Small finds include Samian and mortaria fragments, and painted plaster. {Sourcework 403.} The site is east of the River Churn, (as described in {Sourcework 902}) and has been under arable for the last 8 - 10 years, and before that was previously grassland. Fieldnames "Whitelands" at SO967152 and “Coppice in Tuffley's Whitelands" at SO966152 and SO966153 are shown on the Tithe Map and Apportionment dated 1839. {Sourcework 425.} About 2.5 ha of a roughly rectangular and level area shows many fragments of pottery, clay and sandstone tiles, hypocaust material, glass, two coins, two tesserae, oolitic stone etc on the ploughed surface. These are found all over the field to a lesser extent. Within the rectangular area there are also parallel lines (possible walls?) running east - west across the field. {Source Works 902 and 403.} 1995 - Three pieces of flue tile were found in 1995. Hypocaust, roof tile and sandstone - indicative of Romano-British Settlement. {Source Work 599.} 1999 - A skull top was recovered from a spoil heap formed by the dredging of the river. It was found with a large Roman roof tile with concentric pattern, this was left in situ. The skull is probably human and has been sent to Gloucester museum for analysis. Blocks of Cotswold stone could be seen in the river below the water line (15/02/1999). 2003 - Metal detectorists discovered a mosaic on the site, following deep ploughing over the previous year's tractor tracks. 2003 - Gloucestershire County Council Archaeology Service undertook an archaeological salvage excavaton and recording exercise on the Whitelands mosaic in October of this year. The mosaic revealed at Whitelands appears to have been located within a room (probably a triclinium) in the south-west corner of a Roman aisled villa dating to the late 3rd century AD. This villa was located within a rectangular enclosure and approached by a road from the east. An appendix to the report by Dr David Neal gives a detailed description of the mosaic and suggested that the mosaic was probably about 5.08m square comprising blue, grey, red, yellow ochre, buff and white tesserae. {Source Work 8539}. 2004 - A detailed geophysical survey was carried out on the Roman site south of Coberley between 27th September and 1st October 2004. The research was carried out by Geoquest Associates on behalf of Gloucestershire County Council. The study area included a rectangular, level area of more stony ground (now set aside), beneath which a geometric mosaic of Roman date had recently been discovered by metal detectorists. The purpose of the survey was to map the character and extent of structural remains associated with the mosaic, together with subsurface features in the wider landscape. The survey was carried out using a portable fluxgate gradiometer and reading were logged at 1.0 by 0.5 metre gridded intervals. A total area of about 8ha was surveyed, encompassing both the set aside area and the remainder of the field, which was under arable cultivation (ploughed and harrowed). Geomagnetic anomalies were found to be significantly above the detection limit of the instrument used, with negligible noise effects due to surface ferrous litter. A strong plough texture was encountered in the geomagnetic data set, although this effect did not mask the response to underlying archaeological targets to any great extent. The geophysical survey provided convincing evidence for a 3-aisled courtyard building beneath the level plateau of set-aside land, with a suggestion that an apsidal building for a bath house may exist on the western side. The style and scale of the building are consistent with a Roman villa or other high status monument, within which the mosaic floor was incorporated. Large quantities of rubble and fired material are present in the soil overburden, as evidenced by a strong magnetic noise in this area. The survey also provided a picture regarding the systems of field enclosures and roadways surrounding the Roman building. A road, previously inferred from crop mark evidence, has been clearly delineated, together with a number of branch roads leading north, south and west. The principal roadway appears to skirt the conjectured villa to the south, before continuing west to a crossing over the River Churn, while the eastward projection of the road is through Pinswell Plantation, towards Norbury Camp, 2m distant. {Source Work 7986.} The lengths of road associated with the villa are recorded in SMR 27552. 2007 - In 2007 GSB Prospection undertook resistivity and magnetometry surveys of Coberley Roman Villa in advance of a Time Team programme. Areas of increased resistance related to rubble spreads associated with the villa building. While some wall lines were clearly visible within the data, the results are not totally clear. In places the spread of rubble masked the results, elsewhere robbing has taken place and in other areas the localised outcropping of the bedrock confused matters. While trial trenching confirmed the existence of walls (and robbed-out walls), excavation failed to find any obvious building foundations associated with what appears to be a west range of the villa in the resistance data. As such the existence or not of this range remains open to interpretation. The aim of the magnetic survey was to relocate anomalies that were discovered during the survey by Geoquest Associates so that trenches could be accurately located. The results of the survey corresponded well with the earlier work which identified a complex of ditch, pit and habitation type anomalies in Area 1 (the main villa 'spur'). In Area 2 (to the south east, survey was carried out to try to establish the nature and strength of potential ‘industrial’ responses identified in the earlier survey. This helped to confirm the presence of a kiln which was subsequently partially excavated. {Source Work 9595.} 2007 - Wessex Archaeology was comminssioned by Videotext Communications Ltd (Time Team) to carry out archaeological recording and post-excavation analysis on an evaluation at Coberley Villa in Gloucestershire as part of the Time Team television series. Eleven trenches were excavated to investigate the extent, character and condition of the Coberley Villa remains. The trenches targeted a mosaic pavement discovered by metal detectorists in 2003 and structural remains indicated by geophysical surveying to exist in the vicinity of the mosaic. The remains of a demolished villa were recorded which appeared to have been H-shaped in plan. The evidence suggests that the north and south wings were possibly later additions to an original structure. The mosaic pavement appeared to be within a triclinium. The central panel had been removed, possibly evidence of Christian iconoclastic distruction. Dating evidence from the site suggests that the villa was constructed in 2nd century AD; the mosaic is dated on stylistic grounds to the late 2nd to early 3rd century. There is no firm evidence for the abandonment of the villa but the presence of a little 4th century pottery and several mid to late 4th century coins indicates use of the site well into the late Roman period although all of this evidence comes from post-demolition contexts. Geophysics also located evidence of industrial activity on the site. One of the geophysical anomalies was excavated and transpired to be a partly demolished kiln, the stone-built, subterranean element of which was still preserved in situ. The kiln was probably producing roof tile for the villa construction. {Source Work 9596.} 2011 Scheduling boundaries of this site were revised. {Source Work 10426.} 2019 - This monument was previously recorded within the Historic England National Record of the Historic Environment. That record, formerly held within the AMIE database, is quoted below: “A villa complex comprising an evolved H-shaped villa building, a series of fields, and evidence of industrial activity including a kiln, set within a rectangular enclosure and approached by a road from the east. The villa was first recorded by the Royal Commission for Historic Monuments of England in 1976. During the 1970s and 1980s a number of Romano-British artefacts in this area were documented, and in 2002-3 metal detectorists reported finding further artefacts and part of a geometric mosaic. Subsequent salvage recording by Gloucestershire County Council recorded evidence of a large late 2nd or early 3rd century mosaic. A geophysical survey of the site in 2004 identified the layout of the site and a H-shaped on plan principal building. The survey also identified areas of burnt material, large quantities of rubble, and evidence for a road that approached the villa from the east. Artefacts recovered from the site indicate that the villa was occupied during the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Further excavations took place in 2007, by the Time Team from Channel 4, providing additional evidence of the extent and character of the Roman remains, and demonstrating the evolution of the complex from a corridor structure into a winged villa. There was also evidence for the on-site production of tile, and possibly brick, to the southeast of the main villa building. Pottery and coin finds indicated that the site continued to be in use well into the late Roman period. The villa is oriented east-west and measures about 75 metres by 50 metres. Building material recovered during the 2007 excavation includes stone, brick, box flue tiles, stone and clay roof tiles. A Roman mosaic, found during excavation, is dated from the late 2nd to early 3rd century AD, based on stylistic evidence, and is considered to have been situated within the triclinium, or dining room, of the villa. Both monochrome and polychrome wall plaster fragments were also found suggesting a rich decorative scheme. Evidence of industrial tile production was found in the southeast corner of the villa complex, about 100 metres to the east of the villa. This comprised the remains of a kiln, thought to have been used for on-site production of tile specifically for the villa. The excavation (2007) uncovered a series of limestone walls, the remnants of a flue and roof tiles. The geophysical survey (2004) shows that the villa is set within a rectangular, ditched, enclosure. The wider villa complex is also bounded by further ditches to the south and east. A central break in the eastern boundary, probably an entrance, gives access to a double-ditched road. Aerial photography (1975) shows this approach to the villa extended further eastwards beyond the current A435. (1)” {Source Work 4249.} |