Littlecote Roman Villa — Attraction in Ramsbury

Littlecote Roman Villa is, as the name suggests, the remains of an ancient Roman-British villa in Littlecote Park beside the River Kennet. Mostly it is the outline of the walls in stone, but in one section there remains a marvelous mostly-original (though somewhat restored) tiled mosaic floor; that's the section covered by the shelter.

It's a little off to the side and out of the way, but that also means it isn't as likely to be overrun by the hordes. And the price (at least when we were there some years ago) is right (£0). The villa is on the grounds of the adjacent hotel, so if you wanted to spent the night or have a meal there, I expect they wouldn't object too strenuously. Check with them for terms and availability.

Rain or shine you can come and explore, contemplating how things have changed in the many centuries since. As like as not that in the days this fine house was in use, your ancestors were slaves, or barbarians living in huts in the...

It wasn't until browsing the English Heritage site I realised that this attraction even existed. The hotel is well signposted and once in the grounds you just follow the parking signs for the mosaics. It is then a couple of minutes walk to the villa remains and the building that covers the mosaics. The building, or series of buildings, has a large foot print and there are plenty of information boards detailing what was there, what has been discovered and what it originally looked like. As always with these things, the original buildings were plundered for their stone and all that's left now is the footings. The mosaics are fabulous - they are protected from most of the elements and have plenty of interpretation panels. The colours are more earthy than those found further east in the empire but the designs and details are great and they are impressively large too. Not somewhere we spent a long time but probably 30 minutes in total and well...

We were getting frustrated on our three weeks in England with the crush of people, the long queues for attractions, the impossibility of parking and missing out on some things altogether because they were booked out. Until we did a Google search on England’s best kept secrets. This search brought us to the Littlecote Roman Villa and Mosaic. It must be said that the villa itself is just like so many others in the region. But the joy of being able to wander around without sharing the space with hundreds of other people cannot be understated. All of that pales into insignificance when you encounter the mosaic. Still beautiful, detailed and vibrant after millennia, it completely striking and awe-inspiring. There is parking on-site, and the gentle walk through the manicured grounds of a stately home to get there just adds to the experience. It must be said, this was one of the highlights...