Inside a Cotswold Villa with Paul Booth (Patreon)

Paul Booth is a key authority on Roman villas in the Cotswolds – the region in central England (which includes Gloucestershire and parts of neighbouring counties such as Oxfordshire) could be said to have witnessed a ‘Golden Age’ of villa building in the later years of Roman-occupied Britain. Many of the largest and most lavish villas are concentrated in this area, including the villa on the Broughton Estate at the centre of our upcoming dig.

Not only did Paul Booth write a landmark text on Roman Oxfordshire, he was also one of the principal archaeologists directly involved in the original evaluation of the Broughton site by Oxford Archaeology that established and confirmed the presence of the villa. Simply put, his local expertise is second to none, and we are delighted that he will be joining us at the dig.

In this extensive chat, Tim and Paul take a deep dive into the subject, firstly discussing the wider context, before taking a closer examination of the Broughton villa in the second half. It’s a heady conversation, but one that provides some invaluable insights into the specific site itself and the wider perspective. (If you want to jump straight to our upcoming dig, start about 20 minutes in!)

PLEASE NOTE: Due to circumstances beyond our control by nature of remote recording, there is a slight lag in the source video. We hope this doesn’t affect your enjoyment of this fascinating conversation.