Roman villa of Keynsham

The Roman villa at Keynsham stands on Durley Hill above the Somerset town of Keynsham. It was built as a working farm for a wealthy owner during Roman Britain. Discovered in 1877, the site lay beneath a modern cemetery and only became accessible for excavation between 1922 and 1924. Archaeologists found that the villa had been unusually large and lavishly decorated for a rural building. Part of the structure was cut through by a road, so only a section could be uncovered. The dig revealed ten mosaic floors, one of which shows figures from Greek myths. The villa’s rooms were arranged around three sides of a central courtyard. At the far end, on the west side, stood the grandest chambers. One room had six walls and another six-sided room contained wall niches and a figurative mosaic depicting mythological scenes. Visitors today walk past gravestones to reach the low earthworks that mark the villa’s outline. The surviving mosaics lie protected beneath a modern shelter. Guests can trace the lines of walls and rooms laid out in stone and mortar. The site offers a quiet view over Keynsham and the surrounding countryside.