North Leigh - Roman Villa.
This villa is a maintained by National Heritage. It is so well presented and so well looked after that one can hardly believe that it is unmanned.
North Leigh is near Witney, sort of. I typed in North Leigh into my GPS and the signs were good enough from there.
If you drive through Cumnor you will have to go over a toll bridge. This is interesting to me because the only other one I have been over is the one from Whitchurch to Pangbourne and that is now closed (structurally unsound, I think).
Find North Leigh on the google map I made for you.
It is quite a long drive from Didcot but it is well worth it if you are interested in archaeology, as I am, or if your children are studying the Romans.
The site is quite large. Some of the ruins have been covered up so as to preserve them. The mosaics and other stone artefects have been placed inside a building with dark glass, so as to protect them from the light.
Pics:
View walking down the hill towards the villa.
'Central heating' - this villa had three bathrooms.
One wing of the household.
Sorry, once a teacher, always a teacher, lol!:
Anyone know what this flower is? That's not a test q, I don't either!
Field scabious, I think.
ReplyDeleteThat was quick! Thank you Motthing:) I googled 'field scabius' and it certainly looks like it. What an interesting plant - and the plant's etymology is fascinating, too.
ReplyDeleteFor others, our word scabies comes from the Latin word for 'scratch' , and this plant was used to treat scabies and other skin infections, including the bubonic plague.
I wonder if this plant was in the Romans' arsenal of remedies? Thinking aloud because a friend who lives very close by told me that they have edible snails in their garden close to the villa. Apparently the Romans like to eat them and these present day snails are the descendents of their food source. Any Roman snail experts out there? :)