Large Roman villa detected beneath Margam Country Park in Wales

Archaeologists have detected the outline of the largest stand-alone Roman villa yet found in Wales beneath Margam Country Park, a historic deer park in South Wales. High-resolution magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar surveys across roughly 30 to 40 hectares revealed the villa about three feet below the surface; its preservation is credited to its location beneath a deer park that was not cultivated or built over.

The surveys were carried out by TerraDat UK and led by Dr. Alexander Langlands of Swansea University; Christian Bird, TerraDat's technical director, said the "surveys went exceptionally well" and that the "data are remarkably clear, identifying and mapping in 3-D the villa structure, surrounding ditches and wider layout of the site." The enclosure measures about 43 metres by 55 metres (141 feet by 180 feet) and appears fortified, which the researchers say would have provided defence against aggressors from the east and west.

Geophysical work also revealed a substantial aisled building southeast of the villa, thought to be either a large agricultural store or a later meeting hall, and there may be a Roman bathhouse nearby. Dr. Langlands called the find the "Pompeii of Port Talbot" and said it could indicate that Wales was "just as Roman as anywhere else we’ve got in the heartlands of the province of Britannia," noting that most previously excavated Roman traces in Wales are military sites.

Key Topics

World, Roman Villa, Margam Country Park, Margam Abbey, Swansea University, Terradat Uk