A RECONSTRUCTION of a Roman villa in Somerset has won a national major industry award in recognition of its excellent construction team.
The Roman Villa Museum, located on the Hadspen Estate, near Castle Cary, was built by Chippenham builders Stonewood Builders Ltd.
They picked up the prize for best Commercial or Public Sector Project at the 2023 national Master Builder Awards, presented by DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles, on Friday September 22.
The Roman villa project won the regional equivalent of the award in March 2023, gaining the building company entry into the national awards.
Remains of a Roman villa were first discovered on the Hadspen Estate in 1832, before later work in the 1960s found pottery, coins and part of a mosaic floor.
In 2015, further field work went ahead to establish the extent of the Roman site, dating from between the 3rd and 5th centuries AD.
The estate then comissioned the Roman Villa Museum, which now beautifully displays the remnants of the former villa, including its traditional Roman bath house.
Stonewood Builders Ltd built a striking, scale-replica of the original Roman villa on the Hadspen Estate grounds.
In order to make the reconstruction as accurate as possible, the builders learned traditional Roman building techniques, and sourced authentic materials, such as oak shingles, and clay.
They even travelled to Italy to get an in-person look at handmade products like roof slates and custom hollow clay bricks.
Present inside the replica villa are hand-painted ceilings, a traditional bath house, and authentic Roman central heating which uses a log fire and stacks of terracotta tiles below the floor to heat the building.
Jamie Priest, Director of Stonewood Builders, said: “It feels absolutely amazing.
"The team put in such a great effort and we're really proud.
"It shows what we can do as a company – the uniqueness of the project and the number of trades we brought into it.
"It truly was a big operation from the outset, but it was really successful.”
Brian Berry, Chief Executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said:
"The Roman villa on the Hapsden estate is a hugely important aspect of both the local history of area, and of the history of Britain more widely.
The Roman villa reconstruction, and accompanying museum, created by Stonewood Builders is a masterpiece, which will serve as an important cultural site for years to come.
The care and attention they have put into ensuring that the reconstruction is as faithful as possible to the original villa, is truly a mark of a Master Builder in action.”
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