LONDON, ENGLAND—A Roman villa said to be one of the largest in England has been discovered in a private yard in Wiltshire. Workmen were digging a trench for electric cables when they found a red, white, and blue mosaic floor, so the landowner called the local government office. The New York Times reports that experts from the Salisbury Museum and Historic England uncovered coins, jewelry, pottery, a well, heating pipes, and the shells of hundreds of oysters and whelks. The shellfish were probably imported in barrels of salt water from the coast. The main structure is thought to have been a three-story tall building with as many as 25 rooms on its ground floor. The villa’s outbuildings are also expected to be found at the site. “The site has not been touched since its collapse 1,400 years ago, and so it’s of extreme importance,” said archaeologist David Roberts of Historic England. To read in-depth about a Roman villa recently unearthed in France, go to "France's Roman Heritage."
