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Plans to save 'first of its kind' Roman villa

Edward RoweGloucestershire Political Reporter
AC Archaeology and Heritage A photograph of an exposed mosaic floor. The mosaic sits in the centre of the image with red and white bricks in a spiral pattern. Around it you can see the excavations which have taken place and on the left hand side stones which look like the base of a wall.AC Archaeology and Heritage
The villa is the first of its kind in the Forest of Dean to be found with an "elite" mosaic floor

Discussions are under way to bring a Roman villa site into public ownership to allow experts to fully excavate the area.

Historians have already hailed the site, found by a housing developer in Newnham in 2025, as the first of its kind in the Forest of Dean due to its elite mosaic.

Leaders at Newnham-on-Severn Parish Council are now in talks with the developer to take over its ownership, as it is feared the site will otherwise remain untouched.

Don Mace-Wright, resident and amateur historian, said: "You find an important site, it's protected so that it can be looked at at some point in the future, that's simply not going to happen. None of these sites are ever open back up again."

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Bosses of Freeman Homes said they are "excited" by the find, but it will not affect the development of 46 homes on the site.

Professor of archaeology Mark Horton believes the villa, which was partially excavated in 2025, is the first of its kind in the Forest of Dean to feature an "impressive mosaic".

AC Archaeology and Heritage Six Roman coins on a white background all of various different shapes and sizes.AC Archaeology and Heritage
A selection of Roman coins were found in a partial excavation of the site last year

He added that the site may have served as part of an "industrial complex" with iron work being conducted in the area.

Much of the focus of Gloucestershire's Roman history is in Gloucester and Cirencester.

Mace-Wright believes the "elite mosaic" could change that focus.

"Newnham could be the first example on the other side of the River [Severn] that is showing that sort of workmanship," he said.

Mace-Wright thinks it shows the Romans in the Forest of Dean were "involved in industrial-based activities" rather than the "agricultural country house type society" in Cotswold villas.

Gordon McDonald, a retired surveyor and local amateur archaeologist, believes "once they discovered iron there was a tremendous amount of trade" using the Severn and the Roman roads between Gloucester and Cirencester.

AC Archaeology and Heritage Six shards of glass. All have various levels of translucence. The top left is light green in colour and you can see through it. The top middle is clear but almost looks smeared with a dirty brown material. The top right is the most striking being the thickest shard and a ice cold blue. The bottom left and middle are the translucent with specs of black on them. The bottom right is the least translucent with a number of what look like beads in the glass. There's a red one in the middle two yellow ones North East and South West and two greens ones South East and North West. AC Archaeology and Heritage
These shards of Roman glass have been catalogued from the partial excavation but a full one is yet to take place

Less than half a dozen villas have been found in the Forest of Dean and only few have been fully excavated.

Council leaders said they remain in discussion with the developer about potentially purchasing the villa site.

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