Find out what the Romans really did for us at the remains of one of the largest Romano-British villas in the country. Marvel at what they left behind - mosaics, bathhouses and edible snails.
Whet your appetite with these five highlights from the Villa:
The latrine - fresh sponge sir?
© National Trust / Bryan Byron
The Romans living at the Villa enjoyed all mod cons. They even had flushing toilets - though not quite as we know them. The Villa's latrine was a wooden bench with a row of holes cut in it placed over the sewer. The flush came from a stone water channel which carried through fresh running water.
Toilet paper, Roman style, came in the shape of sponges on sticks. The cleaning sponges were kept in a pot of salt water when not in use. We do not know if everybody had their own sponge!
The Dining Room
© NTPL / Ian Shaw
Floor tiles take on a whole new meaning in the Villa's Dining Room. You’ll discover the remains of a mosaic to rival those in Pompeii. Though missing in part, the design, which interweaves figures with geometric patterns, will still impress.
Roman dining rooms were divided into two parts – one for eating and the other for entertainment. The entertaining side boasted the more elaborate mosaics and Chedworth is no exception. Look out for mythical figures including Winter, gripping tight to his dead hare, and a coquettish Spring running gaily with a bird in her hand.
Taking the plunge
© NTPL / Ian Shaw
The Romans knew a thing or two about bathing and also about heating, and you can admire both innovations in the Bath Houses. The Villa's Roman residents would have enjoyed the daily ritual of bathing in two types of baths.
One was hot and sauna-like, designed to make the pores sweat. The circular sweating chambers and the hypocaust, which cleverly kept the room scorching hot, still survive at the Villa. At the other end of the scale was the cold plunge bath - skin tingling for those brave enough to take the plunge.
A gift from the gods
© National Trust / Adam Moore
The natural spring that feeds the Villa's water shrine never dries up, and still runs in the 4th-century stone channel. This miraculous supply of water is probably the main reason for building the Villa here. Even today it occasionally provides Chedworth's only water supply when the pipes freeze in the winter.
A small stone altar once stood at the far end of the shrine. Offerings were made here to the goddess of the spring - something that still happens today when people throw money into the pool. This modern superstition has its beginnings in the worship of water carried on here 1,600 years ago.
Snails on the menu and bats in the night
© National Trust
As you are walking around the Villa you may be lucky enough to see some very large snails. Residents at Chedworth since the Romans introduced them, these Roman snails (Helix pomatia) would have been fed on milk until they were so fat they couldn't get back into their shells! They were then cooked and eaten as a delicacy.
Another rare resident is the Lesser Horseshoe bat. These tiny creatures, with a body the size of a plum, flit in and out of the specially designed 'bat flap' at the visitor centre during the night to hunt insects. Look out for their droppings in the North Bath House.
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