Details

The monument comprise the site of a Romano-British villa located in a field
immediately north-east of the modern village of Banwell. The villa is visible
in the form of a group of well defined and well preserved building platforms.
The monument was discovered in 1968 during pipe-laying operations and
preliminary investigations were made. The area partially excavated comprised
a bath-house, adjacent courtyard and a length of wall. An almost complete
plan of the bath-house is available from excavation. The main mosaic and apse
were recovered as was the hot room floor, raised on two rows of pilae through
which heat from the furnace passed. The bath-house was situated close to the
River Banwell and in the 3rd to 4th centuries was connected to the main
building by a paved room or corridor. Pottery and animal bones scattered in
and around the main building suggest that the bath-house ceased to function
sometime during the 4th century. This part of the villa is now waterlogged
and the floors subsided.

MAP EXTRACT
The site of the monument is shown on the attached map extract.

Source: Historic England

Reasons for Scheduling

Villas were an important component of the Romano-British rural landscape and
represent the most Romanised form of farmstead. The presence of waterlogging
is unusual and provides conditions for the survival of organic remains (eg
wood, plants, seeds); such remains provide information not available from dry
sites on the functions and use of the villa and on the rural economy. It
would appear from the earthworks visible in the field that much of the
original villa site survives, including the main villa building.

Source: Historic England

Sources

Books and journals
Hunt, J, 'J Axbridge Caving Group Archaeol Soc' in Roman Villa at Banwell, , Vol. 3, (1967), 26
Tomalin, D J, 'Archaeol. Review' in Archaeol. Review, , Vol. 2, (1968), 16
Other
Typescript, Rye, G P, (Typescript),

Source: Historic England