Spoonley Wood Roman Villa, located near Winchcombe in Gloucestershire, is a fascinating archaeological site. The villa believed to have been constructed in the 4th century AD was a large rural estate with luxurious features typical of affluent Roman homes of the period. While much of the structure lies in ruins, the site is best known for its remarkable replica mosaic which preserves the intricate artistry and craftsmanship of the original Roman design.
The Roman villa was discovered here in 1882 when workmen from nearby Sudeley Castle were searching for building material. The owner of the castle and estate at the time, Emma Dent, organised an excavation of the site and 7 years later in 1889 the team had revealed the full extent of the villa and reconstructed it with walls up to 1.5m high. Several impressive mosaics were uncovered as well as C3rd and C4th coins, pottery, tools and a marble statue of Bacchus - now in the British Museum.
Dent had the mosaics lifted from the villa and brought back to the castle in an attempt to save them from souvenir hunters. Replicas of two of the mosaics were then reconstructed at the original site and protected by sheds built from the original building material. Sadly after Dent's passing, the new owners of the estate did not take such a keen interest and the site was left open to the elements, quickly falling back into ruin. All the original mosaics also went missing at this time. Below are some of the drawings of the original mosaics made at the time of the initial excavations.
Logging Requirements:
Q1) Find the information board at the listed co-ordinates. On the floor-plan there is a barn shown separate to the main villa. How many dots are there inside the barn?
Now move to the waypoint, to answer these questions you will need to pull back the protective sheet covering the mosaic. Please do so carefully as not to damage the mosaic and once you are finished cover it back up as found. The image below will help you identify which areas of the mosaic are needed for the questions. Some water may help bring out the true colours of the mosaic if you are struggling to answer the questions.
Q2) Look at the central section of the mosaic, in each of the corners there is a small diamond pattern. Which of the designs below best matches the pattern seen on the mosaic? Use the red squares on the above drawing of the mosaic as a reference of which area to look at.
Q3) Which of the following patterns best matches the area obscured by the blue shape on the drawing of the mosaic above?
Q4) Take a photo of you/your GPS or something with your caching name on it by the shelter or with the mosaic and upload it with your log. We would love to see nice photos of the mosaic/area.
Please send your answers to us either by email or through the geocaching message centre within 48 hours of logging your find. We hope you enjoyed visiting this interesting little oddity.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.