28 June 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

The Roman villa in North Yorkshire is described as the first of its kind

A Roman villa has been found at a construction site in North Yorkshire, considered the first of its kind.

Remains of the large “Remains of the large “stately house” and bath were found in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. The building complex consists of a circular room and a bathhouse.

According to the news of the BBC, Historic England said the type of layout has “never been seen in Britain” and maybe the first example “within the whole former Roman Empire”.

Inspector of ancient monuments Keith Emerick said it was “more than we ever dreamed of discovering”.

The remains were discovered on the site of a new housing development being built in the Eastfield area of Scarborough.

The excavations revealed a large complex of buildings, including a circular central room with a number of rooms leading off it and a bathhouse.

Mr. Emerick said it was not clear what the building was used for but described it as a Roman version of a stately home, possibly owned by somebody of wealth and status.

The site will be reburied under a public space in the new housing development
The site will be reburied under a public space in the new housing development

He added: “We’ve spoken to a number of leading Roman academics about it and we’re all trying to find a comparable site and we are struggling.

“So in that sense, it is really significant. It’s really exciting as well”.

He said the villa may have later been adapted for religious purposes: “One of the descriptions we had was that it is something like a religious building that is almost like a gentleman’s club, there’s a bathhouse as well. So it’s a really interesting hybrid building at the moment.”

In order to protect the discovery housing developer, Keepmoat has altered its plans so the remains will be conserved beneath a public open space rather than built on as originally intended.

Mr. Emerick said the site will be designated as a national scheduled monument and he hoped in the future it may be made accessible to the public.

Related Articles

Archaeologists Discovered a Luxury Roman Village in Southeastern Sicily

17 October 2024

17 October 2024

In the province of Catania, archaeologists have excavated the remains of a Roman house with a mosaic floor dating from...

Holy Virgins of Ancient Rome

24 February 2021

24 February 2021

Rome was not a place that promised a lot for women. Lower-class women were typically public, helping to earn a...

Only Those on the Righteous Path May Enter Here”: New Mosaics Unearthed in Antalya’s Olympos

19 June 2025

19 June 2025

A newly discovered mosaic inscription at the entrance of a church and elaborately decorated floor mosaics have come to light...

Precious Roman Gem Engraved with Mythological Figure Discovered in Italian Lagoon

8 August 2023

8 August 2023

During excavations at Lio Piccolo (Cavallino-Treporti), conducted by Ca’ Foscari University, a precious agate stone carved with a mythological figure...

Greek Warrior Relief Found in Bulgaria

2 April 2021

2 April 2021

In Sozopol, on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, a piece of terracotta relief depicting ancient Greek warriors has been discovered....

Gold glass ‘Roma’ unearthed in the excavations of the Rome subway

7 February 2023

7 February 2023

A very rare and refined piece of gold glass representing ‘Roma’, the woman symbol of the Eternal City, has been...

Researchers use AI to read words on ancient Herculaneum scroll burned by Vesuvius

13 October 2023

13 October 2023

Researchers used artificial intelligence to extract the first word from one of the first texts in a charred scroll from...

Metal signature of Roman 19th Legion identified at Teutoburg battle site that shook Rome in AD9

5 December 2022

5 December 2022

Researchers in Germany have identified the metallurgic signature of the Roman 19th Legion in artifacts recovered from the Battle of...

Archaeologists Unearth Cisterns at Izmir’s Ancient “City of Mother Goddess”

2 June 2021

2 June 2021

In the ancient city of Metropolis, in western Turkey, in the province of Izmir, something that played an important role...

The First Evidence of Match-Fixing Found in the Ancient World

23 February 2021

23 February 2021

There are hundreds of things that are old in our world, one of them is people’s passion to win. Where...

New evidence for the use of lions during executions in Roman Britain

9 August 2021

9 August 2021

Archaeologists have discovered an elaborate key as proof that wild animals were employed as execution vehicles in public arena events...

New finds in ancient Rome’s Pompeii show ‘conditions of precarity and poor hygiene, in which people of lower status lived during that time

20 August 2023

20 August 2023

Archaeologists have discovered a small bedroom in Civita Giuliana villa near Pompeii that was almost certainly used by slaves, throwing...

‘Miniature Pompeii’ found beneath Astra cinema in Verona

15 June 2021

15 June 2021

Archaeologists have uncovered a “miniature Pompeii” in the shape of a well-preserved ancient edifice near Verona, Italy. An old Roman...

Excavation of Carlisle Roman bathhouse uncovers a connection between the site and a third-century Roman emperor

27 September 2021

27 September 2021

Excavation of a Roman bath at the Carlisle Cricket Club in Stanwix, part of the Uncovering Roman Carlisle project, has...

Archaeologists identify three new Roman camps in Arabia

27 April 2023

27 April 2023

Through remote sensing analysis, archaeologists have identified three new Roman fortified camps throughout northern Arabia. Their study, released today in...