Work has started on a major community archaeology project at a Roman villa site near the English village of Halberton, where experts fear years of ploughing are gradually destroying important remains buried beneath farmland.
Known as SHARE — Saving Halberton’s Ancient Roman Environment — the project will run over the next five years and aims to investigate, record and protect the site before more damage takes place.
The scheme is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and involves the University of Exeter’s Archaeology Department, Tiverton Archaeological Group, Sampford Peverell Society, Devon County Council’s Historic Environment Team and Cotswold Archaeology.
Roman villas are not commonly found in Devon. Only a few have ever been confirmed through excavation, making the Halberton site particularly important.
The villa was first identified in 2004 after a local metal detectorist discovered Roman finds in the area. Since then, surveys and earlier investigations have revealed traces of several buried buildings, enclosure systems, walls and floor surfaces spread across the site.
Archaeologists have recovered a range of objects over the years, including Roman coins, brooches, pottery fragments, ceramic building material, industrial waste and tesserae used in mosaics.
One of the best-known discoveries at the site came during trial trenching in 2021, when part of a Roman mosaic floor was uncovered. Although damaged by ploughing, sections of the design survived, showing red, white and black tesserae arranged in a polychrome pattern.
Mosaics were costly additions in Roman Britain and are usually linked to wealthy households. Archaeologists say the remains at Halberton suggest the villa belonged to a high-status settlement occupied between the 2nd and 4th centuries AD.
There is also evidence of a possible hypocaust system — the Roman method of underfloor heating — which would have been another sign of wealth.
Earlier this year, volunteers joined archaeologists for a two-week excavation as part of the first stage of the SHARE project.
Two trenches were opened during the dig, uncovering more buried walls and structural remains. Some of the stonework had been removed in the past for reuse elsewhere, a process archaeologists describe as “robbing out”, but enough survives to show the scale of the buildings.
Excavators also found ditches and pits which may help explain how the surrounding land was organised during the Roman period.
One of the latest discoveries is a tank-like feature lined with opus signinum, a waterproof Roman concrete made from lime mortar mixed with crushed tile or pottery.
The material was commonly used in bathhouses, water tanks and other structures linked to water. Archaeologists now believe the feature may form part of a Roman bathhouse connected to the villa.
The excavation has relied heavily on local support, with volunteers helping on site alongside students and professional archaeologists.
More work is planned between May and July, when University of Exeter students will spend four weeks excavating at the site before community volunteers continue the dig during the following month.
Organisers hope the project will uncover more of the settlement and build a clearer picture of Roman life in this part of Devon.
Further findings from the excavation are expected later this year.
Sources : Cotswold Archaeology