ROMAN VILLA, DISCOVERED AT BISLEY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE,
BY THOMAS BAKER, ESQ., OF WATERCOMBE HOUSE.
In a field called the Church piece, near Lilly-Horn, adjoining the highway from Oakridge Common to Bisley, near Lilly Gate, the vestiges of a Roman structure of considerable extent have been brought to light. The land belongs to Frampton's place in the parish of Bisley, in the county of Gloucester, and is the property of Mr. Thomas Baker, of Watercombe House. The excavations, commenced under his direction, had not proceeded far, before an extensive range of chambers was exposed to view, the communications of which one with another were distinctly marked, and in some places were to be seen the supports and bases of tesselated floors, although no fragments of the tesserae were found. These chambers were bounded on one side by a wall of great thickness, but the limits of the whole villa have not yet been ascertained. The bricks used in this construction were mostly from seven to ten inches square, and one inch in thickness; the greater part of them were marked in Roman capitals TPFA, impressed on the surface. Hexagonal tiles, in which were found inserted the iron nails by which they had been fastened, oyster shells in abundance, fragments of red and coloured glazed pottery, ornamented with a variety of figures, portions of glass, many little implements of brass, such as tweezers, &c., the root of a stag's horn, of unusually large size, sawed off at the ends, a quantity of bones of stags, sheep, and other animals, two knives, part of an adze, and other articles, have been found; one of the knives had a blade of somewhat remarkable fashion, measuring 5 in. in length, 2 in. broad at the haft, and gradually tapering to the point.
At the south-west angle of the space numbered 18 in the plan, at the spot marked by a circle, there was found, not more than six inches below the surface, a round earthen pot, which contained a globular mass of metal; this mass was found to consist of a conglomerate of coins, to the number of 1,223. Some of these have been preserved in the state of cohesion in which they were found, and the whole form nearly a complete series of second and third brass, mostly in the best preservation, from the reigns of Valerian to Diocletian inclusively, comprehending the usurpers in Britain, or elsewhere, who are not usually reckoned in the imperial list.
