Mosaic, and so much more, found at Wroxeter (Shopshire)

BACKGROUND

The Wroxeter Farm evaluation is a collaborative project working on behalf of English Heritage Trust involving Vianova Archaeology & Heritage Services and Albion Archaeology, with students mainly from Cardiff University.

The evaluation was a research, training and engagement project. Thirty archaeologists spent a month on site in July and August 2024, including 20 student archaeologists and volunteers of all ages, while more than 1000 people visited the excavation on guided tours to see what the archaeologists were doing and what they had found.

Wroxeter Farm 2024 team photo © Vianova Archaeology

PRELIMINARY SUMMARY

The recent evaluation has revealed remarkable evidence for town life in Roman Britain almost 2,000 years ago, including part of an unusual decorated mosaic, a possible shrine or mausoleum (potentially unique from a town in Roman Britain), a monumental roadside civic building, and tantalising hints of a nearby temple. Located in the heart of the Roman city at Wroxeter, the trenches investigated an unexplored part of the site where the Roman-period remains lie almost completely undisturbed below the ground.

Mosaic

The mosaic came from a room in a large previously unknown townhouse, probably owned by a wealthy and powerful family, and it was decorated with an aquatic scene with stylised dolphins and various different kinds of fish.

The lower parts of the mosaic room’s wall are intact and still bear their original painted plaster. The mosaic probably dates to the 2nd century and it survives because the building was later remodelled, probably in the later 3rd or 4th centuries, when the room was filled in with building debris to raise up the interior of the house (possibly to match the increased height of the adjacent streets).

Shrine or mausoleum

The shrine or mausoleum was a small square stone-built structure with a central chamber. Originally it could have stood several stories high and its external walls were covered with painted plaster, some of which was still in place, which means it would have been seen from miles around. If it was a mausoleum its chamber must have held the remains of an important individual in Wroxeter’s earliest history – possibly someone associated with the legionary base or perhaps a founding father of the new city.

Monumental building

The monumental building ran along the side of one of Wroxeter’s main streets opposite the city’s forum-basilica (marketplace and city hall). It was only 8m wide but at least 50m long. Buttresses reinforced the building’s massive rear wall, which could have stood to several stories, while its interior was also decorated with painted plaster and its floor had been raised in height on at least one occasion.

Temple

It is thought that the block where the evaluation took place was the location of the city’s main public temple. No direct evidence for a temple was found, but a number of complete and broken pottery vessels from this part of the site might be evidence for worshippers’ offerings to whichever god or gods were venerated nearby. In addition, the presence of a shrine or mausoleum may support the presence of a temple.

NOTE. Aerial photography and photogrammetry was undertaken by Dr Paul Belford of Heritage Innovation, an international cultural heritage consultancy based in Shropshire. All of the 3D models created by Heritage Innovation of the Wroxeter site can be found here: https://skfb.ly/p7pDn

QUOTES FROM THE PROJECT PARTNERS

Mike Luke (Albion Archaeology), Co-Director:

Albion Archaeology was delighted to be a partner in such a successful and important project. While our core area of work is in the east Midlands, I worked at Wroxeter with Roger White on the 1980s excavations so it was wonderful to be invited back. Albion Archaeology provided highly skilled and experienced archaeologists to supervise the fieldwork, training and inspiring students who will become the next generation of archaeologists. It was also a pleasure to work with a range of volunteers and staff from English Heritage whose new experiences will build on their existing knowledge and passion for archaeology. Albion Archaeology also contributed a range of technical services which means that the fieldwork and post fieldwork tasks will be undertaken to the highest professional standards. Partnerships between commercial archaeological organisations like Albion Archaeology and research/training excavations are surprisingly rare in Britain, but the benefits of such ventures are huge for all partners and participants.

Dr Peter Guest (Vianova Archaeology), Project Manager and Co-Director:

This was a fantastic project to be part of and it was a privilege to be invited by English Heritage to excavate at such an iconic site as Wroxeter. What we found this season surpassed all our expectations – no-one would have thought that Wroxeter’s Roman remains survive so amazingly well here, or that we should see phenomenal archaeology in each of our trenches. The mosaic is a truly lovely thing and it was a joy to watch it being uncovered and cleaned – like looking at a 2,000 year-old aquarium frozen in stone! The shrine or mausoleum is another very special find because it would seem to date from the earliest chapters in Wroxeter’s history as a Roman site, perhaps from the decades when it was a military base from which the conquest of the Celtic tribes in modern Wales was launched. We achieved great things this season, all of which is testament to the dedication and hard-work of our small team who lived and worked on site for 4 weeks, including professional archaeologists from Albion Archaeology and student archaeologists and volunteers from Cardiff University. We are very fortunate to have dug at Wroxeter - every day produced wonderful new discoveries and the excitement in the trenches was palpable. It was also great that so many members of the public were able to visit the excavation and see what we were up to this summer.

For further details see Home - Vianova Archaeology

Dr Roger White (University of Birmingham), Co-Director:

Having spent many years excavating and studying Wroxeter Roman City, and its later history, it was enormously exciting to be involved in making such major new discoveries. We have long suspected that a major public building was located here and while we have now confirmed that this is the case, the building is in some respects puzzling to understand. This is not so surprising given how large this building seems to have been, but the new knowledge is startling evidence for the wealth and confidence of the founders of the city. This confidence is breathtakingly emphasised by the extraordinary survival of a multi-coloured mosaic and substantial surviving frescoed walls built in the first few decades of the city’s existence. It is extremely rare to find both a mosaic and its associated wall plaster, and nothing like it has ever been found at Wroxeter before. Importantly, the site also offers scientific opportunities to understand how the Roman city became productive farmland for more than 1500 years following its demise in the fifth century. This part of the former city was never ploughed in modern times and our research into evidence for ancient ploughing may offer insights into the future evolution of the soil in the light of climate change.

WROXETER KEY FACTS

· The Wroxeter Farm project was the first research excavation within Wroxeter Roman city in almost 40 years.

· Wroxeter was the site of a legionary base before being founded as a city towards the end of the 1st century when it was known to the Romans as Viroconium Cornoviorum.

· Viroconium was the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, extending to almost 80 hectares within its walls and with an estimated population of some 15,000 people.

· The mosaic found during the 2024 season was the first new mosaic discovered at Wroxeter since 1859.

· Wroxeter is a Scheduled Monument and is owned by English Heritage and the National Trust.

· The historic site of Wroxeter Roman City is managed by English Heritage.