Reconstructing Great Witcombe Roman Villa
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- Опубліковано 25 сер 2024
- I head out to Gloucestershire today, hunting for a luxurious Roman villa 💒, located a stones throw from Cotswolds Way 🤩 Armed with my drones, camera and supported by LIDAR modelling, I reconstruct 🔨 the Great Witcombe Roman Villa to how it probably looked 1800 years ago 👏
The remains of this large and luxurious Roman villa lie in a peaceful setting near the Cotswold Way. Once at the heart of a large country estate, the villa was built about AD 250, and lived in until the 5th century. The remains include a bathhouse complex and perhaps the shrine of a water spirit. Mosaic pavements (preserved within a modern building) hint at the villa’s opulence in Roman times.
Great Witcombe was built sometime between the mid-2nd and mid-3rd centuries AD. There may have been an earlier, smaller villa down the slope, where a field survey has identified a rectangular building. This may be the building uncovered by excavations in 1819, which reportedly had abundant wall plaster, but was thought to have been destroyed by the excavation.
The original plan of the main villa was a symmetrical U-shape, carefully terraced into the hillside. The west wing consisted almost entirely of two bath-houses (suites of baths), which were both in use at the same time. The east wing comprised kitchens and storerooms. A rectangular dining room projected from the north side of the central range, which was probably open on one side to provide a covered walkway with a view down the hillside. Both wings had an upper floor where the family lived, and there was probably an upper level above the walkway too. The villa’s entrance may have been straight onto the upper storey.
In the 4th century a series of alterations was made. One of the bath-houses was enlarged and remodelled, and the lower east wing was expanded to create a large barn-like space. Finally, the rectangular dining room was replaced with an octagonal room, which may have had a tower.
There is controversy over exactly when this villa was built. Usually it is fairly easy to date Roman buildings by stratigraphy (the layers in the soil), but when this villa was excavated the stratigraphy was not recorded. Looking at the dates of the finds, Peter Leach, the archaeologist who published a report on the site excavations in 1998, concluded that the villa was probably built in the early 3rd century AD. However, mosaic experts have dated the mosaics stylistically to the late 2nd century AD, in which case the villa must have been built by then.
One possible explanation is that there was an earlier villa - perhaps the one identified on the field survey - which was served by the original lower bath-house, and that the renovations to the baths happened soon after the main villa was begun, about AD 200.
The wealthy owners of Great Witcombe may have been involved in politics and administration at the nearby Roman town of Glevum (now Gloucester). This was a common occupation for the rich and powerful of Roman Britain.
The Romano-Britons who lived here may have sought rural peace in choosing this location, but in fact they were well connected. Ermin Way, the Roman road that connected Corinium (now Cirencester) and Glevum, passes less than a mile to the north. Gloucester is only five miles away and Cirencester ten. The villa owners could easily have gone to market in either town and returned the same day.
Many people other than the owners would have lived at Great Witcombe, including slaves who worked on the estate. They would have farmed the fields, looked after the animals and stoked furnaces for the industrial work done here. Finds from the site suggest that metalworking took place on site, including ironworking, lead working and copper-alloy and pewter casting. Down the slope is evidence for much more Roman activity, probably industrial processes associated with the villa.
We know that tiles for the roof and baths were also made here, because wasters - discarded tiles which did not survive the kiln - have been found in the stream.
ADDRESS: Brockworth, Gloucestershire, GL3 4TW
OPENING TIMES: Open 10am-6pm daily from Apr until Oct, and 10am-4pm from Nov to Mar. £2 parking charge applies to non-members.
Special thanks to English Heritage: www.english-he...
My 360 Images: kuula.co/profi...
My Instagram: / lambourne_photography
My Twitter: / lambourne_chris
SOFTWARE:
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe Premiere Pro
- DJI Media Maker
- MS Image Composite Editor
- Autopano Giga
- Planlauf Terrain
- Sketchup Pro
- V-Ray
HARDWARE:
- DJI Pocket 2 Camera
- DJI Wireless Mic Transmitter
- PolarPro Cinema Series Filter Vivid Collection
- DJI Mavic 2 Pro drone
- DJI Mini 2 drone
- PolarPro Vivid Filter Collection
- Freewell Long Exposure Series Filters
![АЛАУДИНОВ у Скабеевой: эти их ВСУ нас НЕ ДОГОНЯТ 😁 [Пародия]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/an0anqU4WGQ/mqdefault.jpg)
I really do hope you enjoy this one 😀 If you do, please feel free to hit that like button and subscribe 🙏 to see more vids each week! 🏰😉👍
WOW that was like a proper TV documentary, well done...
Many thanks, glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for a great comment 👏👍
Cok guzel bir paylasim clmus cmeyinze saglukk....so cool video
Many thanks for watching and commenting! 😉👍
Thanks for the reconstruction-helps us (who lack imagination)
It's my pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it 😃
Wow So Really Nice Reconstructing Great Witcombe Roman Villa and Really Really Beautiful! Keep it up Good Job! Stay Connected! 😍😍😍🤗🤗🤗
Thank you, glad you enjoyed it 😉👍
Really good videography, narrative and geographical context. Usually there's a map of some sort, then footage of the location but not the sense of place your drone shots provide. Well done.
Thanks for that! I appreciate the comment and thank you for watching!
Very informative and professionally produced. I found the video while researching the ancient Roman presence in the area. Thanks from California.
Glad you enjoyed it! And thanks for stopping by 👍
So nice upload, beautiful views and presentation , we have also many Roman buildings where i live around, thanks for sharing dear. All the best. Have a wonderful day, See you soon again. L21
Thanks for visiting! Great comment 😉👍
I love the effort and work you put into producing your videos, the LIDAR, the reconstructions, and the combination of drone and handheld videography.
That is really nice to hear, and thank you for taking the time to provide feedback. I do enjoy the LiDAR and reconstructions (Sketchup), but often think it may not be everyone's cup of tea. I can' help wonder "what did it look like originally". I see you're local too. I'm just watching your Bourton-on-the-Water video, in which you cover Salmonsbury Camp. I also created a video on that, a truly fascinating place. I have subscribed to your channel as am keen to see more. Thank you and all the best.
Superbly done!
Outstanding drone and lidar work! I really enjoyed the map, too. I'm very glad you share your love of doing this and it's so good for me to happen on a fellow map enthusiast.
So glad you liked it. I had a lot of fun doing it, especially the 3D modelling and LiDAR. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
mashallah nice share dear frndd nice be safe healthy stay blessed
You stay safe too 👍
@@LamboPhoto wlcm
Great summary of the great Witcomb Roman Villa! This is really interesting because I have been studying mosaics of 1st to 3rd century Roman villas in the UK. Now I am researching the possibilities of there being one or more groups in the UK considering building a replica villa to scale or full scale. 'Anyone out there also interested in building a replica or model villa somewhere in the UK.
Sorry for the late reply. Yes, it's a great site to visit. I am now researching Litlecote Roman Villa, which has even more spectacular set of mosiacs. I am also building a 3D model based on the site's drawings and overlaying it onto a DTM model using LiDAR. The video will be out shortly. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍
Great job Chris!
Thank you, Chris! I did enjoy this one. Beautiful views and loads of history 😉👍
Nice updates18🤗😍well done keep up best moredear
Thanks 🤗
I know that when I click play, Chris, I'm going to see a great video. I love learning about history and you make it easy to come away with something new!
Thanks Christian, very kind of you to say! Incidentally, the timelapse that we discussed starts at 6:28, which is at 20x speed and uses Warp Stabilizer 👍
@@LamboPhoto Yes! I should have mentioned how good it looks stabilized. I should experiment more with Filmora's alleged stabilizer. 😀
Another great video my friend, I was actually disappointed in how short it was so I watched it again lol. You do spectacular work, and I always watch for your next upload!
Glad you enjoyed it, Jason! I thought it was a bit short too. Gutted, as it took several trips to film and several more to edit 😣 It's often the way, shed load of effort for less than 10 minutes of video at the end 🤣 Ah well, all a learning curve. I've shot the next one, now editing it - this will be longer! 😁 Take care mate, and thanks again for your support 😉👍
What a beautiful setting to build a villa. Another brilliant documentary Chris. Amazing it laid forgotten for so many centuries. Your use of the Lidar map is really good. Of course it wouldn't be one your productions without the mud!
Cheers Clive! The location they chose is stunning. What I didn't mention in the vid, is that is was originally the site of a prehistoric dwelling, Iron Age, maybe older. Great vantage point and local spring make it ideal. Thanks for the feedback on the LiDAR, early days for me - and thanks again to you for putting me on to it. The mud - yes, all was fine until that bit 🤣 Cheers mate, take care and thanks as always 😉👍
@@LamboPhoto The water bubbling up out of the ground is of course one of the main reasons the Romans and previous dwellers settled there.
The total amount of water would be amazing. Better not let the water companies know they will be putting meters on them all 😀.
Lovely video, put together really well. Would love to see a similar one for Chedworth Villa.
Thank you so much 🙏 I have visited Chedworth, but not with the drone. It's a great idea, thank you 👍
Really enjoy your visits. Just discovered on YT today. Best wishes.
Welcome aboard! Glad to have you here!! 😃👍
Ab fab, totally
Many thanks! 👍
Thank you. You gave the place 'context', certainly lacking in archaeological papers or reports. Again...Thank You.
More than welcome! Thanks for watching 🙂
Absolutely great footage and narration. Always enjoy watching your content. Great witcombe is such a hidden gem, thanks for sharing x
Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it's a such a nice site this, I watched your video after I found it for the first time. I do like these Roman villas 👏😉👍
For some reason I've not been getting any notifications Chris, I was wondering why I hadn't seen anything from you for a little while. Everything is turned on! The algo must be throwing another hissy fit!! I really enjoy your content! Well presented, Beautiful footage and so informative!!
Cheers Robbie! No worries. I have a couple of yours to catch up on too! We're both content creators, so we're both busy mate 😉 Glad you enjoyed it pal. I am trying to add new things in each vid, techiques, visuals, etc. It all takes time though. Hopefully it's paying off 🤷♂️ Take care mate, and thanks for stopping by 😉👍
Hey man. Fantastic work! From the piece to camera at the beginning to the combination od handheld, drone and CGI images. Brilliant content and a pleasure to see it coming from a UK creator. Big like and subscribe from me. Greetings from a fellow UK drone operator. Keep up the great work! Real high standard you have going here.
Many thanks mate 😁 Glad you liked it. Only been posting for about 6 months, so still finding my feet. Just subbed to your channel too. I see quite a few familiar commenters on there as well. Great content mate, well done 👏👍😉
Hello👍👈🔔👈🥰
Hello 😊