Chedworth

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Chedworth
Chedworth (United Kingdom)
Chedworth
Chedworth
Coordinates 51 ° 48 ′  N , 1 ° 56 ′  W Coordinates: 51 ° 48 ′  N , 1 ° 56 ′  W
Basic data
Country United Kingdom

Part of the country

England
county Gloucestershire
ISO 3166-2 GB-GLS
South West England
View over Chedworth
View over Chedworth

Chedworth is a village in the county of Gloucestershire ( England ) in the Cotswolds . This is where the archaeological site of Chedworth Roman Villa is located , and has been a National Trust property since 1924 .

General

Chedworth is a street development with some fine stone Cotswold-style houses. The large mansion near the parish church is the oldest building in the village. During the Second World War there was a Royal Air Force airfield here , the remains of which can still be seen.

The Midland & South Western Junction Railway from Cheltenham to Cirencester , later part of the Great Western Railway , which connected the place to the English rail network since October 1892, was shut down in September 1961. The Chedworth Railway Station , which was demolished at that time, was located in a deep cut, nearby is the Chedworth Tunnel with a length of around 450 m.

In the novella "Rat Trap" (1976) by Craig Thomas (1942-2011) Chedworth is named as the setting.

The Canadian eventing rider Michael Winter (* 1974) has been running a riding stable in Chedworth since 2009.

The Roman villa

The villa is a magnificent building around 1700 years old that was discovered by chance in 1864, uncovered by James Farrer (1812–1879) and opened as a showground. The construction time is assumed from the early second to the fourth century. When it was completed, it was one of the largest Romano-British villas in England with beautiful mosaics , especially in the dining room ( triclinium ), a steam bath and a hot-air bath, hypocaust (underfloor heating), latrine system and an artfully designed water basin with an apse . The water basin ( nymphaeum ) was the place of worship for the local spring goddess, whose spring, located directly next to the villa, fed the basin. An altar to the god Lenus Mars , with a relief depicting the god with ax and spear, was excavated in the area of ​​the villa.

The villa was located directly on the important Roman road Fosse Way , 13 km north of the Roman city of Corinium Dobunnorum (today Cirencester). There were nine such mansions within a five-mile radius, and there were fifty of them across the Cotswolds.

  • Roman villa

  • Nymphaeum

  • Mosaic in the triclinium

  • Hypocaust

  • Roman road Fosse Way

Chedworth Nature Reserve

The Chedworth Nature Reserve is part of the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve , which is located on the south side of the River Coln Valley between Chedworth and Withington . The reserve is located in the immediate vicinity of the Roman Villa on an approximately 2 km long section of the disused Midland & South Western Junction Railway , cuts and embankments of the former route have now become part of the reserve. The Wildlife Trust acquired the site in 1961 and designed it as a wooded area with beech trees on both sides of the old route to the Chedworth Tunnel . It is part of Chedworth Woods , the second largest closed wooded area in the Cotswolds.

Geologically, the area is classified in the Bajocian (171.6 to about 167.7 million years BC). Many fossils from this period can be found in the limestone rubble.

  • River Coln Valley

  • Chedworth Woods

  • Railway bridge in the woods

  • Railway tunnel in the woods

literature

Web links

Commons : Chedworth  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files