A walk from Chedworth village to Chedworth Roman Villa

Chedworth, Gloucestershire

The village of Chedworth is small, unspoilt and relatively isolated although only about 8 miles from Cirencester. Records show inhabitants as far back as 1086 and nowadays the village boasts a church and a pub.

St Andrew's Church is a Norman church built in the twelfth century although it was substantially rebuilt in the late fifteenth century.

The pub, The Seven Tuns, was built in 1640.

The Walk

After parking in front of the church, cross the road and take the little footpath in front of the cottages to the Seven Tuns pub on Queen Street. Turning left, walk up the road for about a third of a mile - actually, it's almost a climb as this road is particularly steep! - then follow the road round as it makes a very sharp bend to the right.

Although the walk by road is 8 miles, this part of the countryside is particularly well served with footpaths.

Exploring the footpaths could cut some of the distance from the walk, but they would definitely bear exploration in their own right.

After the sharp bend, it's a pleasant, level walk for 1.3 miles to a crossroads, where the Roman Villa is signposted left. After half a mile, follow the road to the right for another half a mile as it crosses the river until it reaches a T junction. As you walk up this road, you might spot a large country house up on the hill. This is Stowell Park, home to Lord and Lady Vestey and most of our walk is through their 6000 acre estate, which includes the village of Yanworth.

At the T junction, Yanworth is signposted to the right, but we are following the road to the left, signposted again for the Roman Villa, through some very pretty scenery.

1.2 miles later, at the junction, you have arrived - well, at the bottom of the drive!

0.2 miles up this drive takes you to the Roman Villa, managed by the National Trust.

Here there are toilets, a cafe, a shop and walks around the grounds as well as the Villa itself.

Chedworth Roman Villa

The Chedworth villa was built in about 120AD and was home to particularly wealthy Romans. Various archaeological digs have discovered valuable historical information pointing to the lives lived there. They've found mosaics, bathhouses, hypocausts, a latrine and a water shrine, built to worship the goddess of the spring that supplied the villa and surroundings with fresh water. The presence of the fresh water probably explains why the villa was built there in the first place.

In 1864, the remains of the villa were accidentally rediscovered by a gamekeeper from the Earl of Eldon's estate. The Earl financed an excavation and the four best mosaics discovered were kept and preserved whilst the other finds were reburied to protect them. The villa was transferred to the National Trust in 1924 and there has been an ongoing programme of excavation and preservation ever since.

The cafe on site sells cakes and savouries as well as sandwiches and cream teas. The staff on the information desk were particularly helpful on the day we visited, providing us with a view of the site that we would have been unlikely to get otherwise.

Well worth it!

A long walk perhaps, but definitely worth the effort, especially for the beautiful countryside views on the way!

Sue McGreal
Photos ©2022 Sue McGreal