The villa in progress
When: from 19th February 2011, 10am onwards
Where: Wroxeter Roman Town, Wroxeter, Shropshire – SY5 6PH
£: Adults 4.40, children 2.20, concessions 3.70 and family ticket 11. English Heritage members free.
What is it?
A Roman Villa Urbana – a high status Roman town house – has been erected at Wroxeter Roman City, the site of the fourth largest settlement in Roman Britain. Thanks to a project between English Heritage and Channel 4, a six part TV series will start on Thursday 20 January following a team of modern builders as they set about building the town house using traditional Roman methods.
The completed villa
Wroxeter began as a legionary fortress and later developed into a thriving civilian city, populated by retired soldiers and traders. Today you can see the remains of the impressive 2nd century municipal baths and visit the site museum to understand how the city worked in its heyday.
The design for ‘Villa Urbana’ was inspired by an actual building excavated at this important Roman site and was created by Professor Dai Morgan Evans, visiting professor in archaeology at Chester University. Using local materials and traditional methods and tools as much as possible, the building process has helped shed new light on how incredible feats of ancient engineering were achieved.
More info: Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day, a six-part series, will start on Thursday 20 January 2011 at 9pm on Channel 4. The villa will be open to the public from Saturday 19 February from 10am. Find out more about visiting Wroxeter at English Heritage.