So, I simply brought forward the rest of my day, which was about heading back to our friends Jenny & Craig (and Clare who is also staying) in Marshfield - those of you who have been following for a while will be aware that I've already been here twice: when I first arrived in the UK about 4 months ago, and then a few weeks ago with Kim while we attended the retreat.
Chedworth Roman Villa is described as a "luxurious country house from the 'Golden Age' of Roman Britain. The villa was discovered in 1864 when a gamekeeper, out ferreting for rabbits, found small stone cubes (loose tesserae) from one of the buried mosaics; the site quickly gave up its extensive walls, bath houses and fine mosaics from one of the most significant Roman villas in Britain. The villa was at its greatest in the fourth century, as a large and luxurious country house - complete with many domestic comforts including underfloor heating and bath houses.
The National Trust bough the villa in the 1920s through public subscription, and in 2011 the site underwent major renovation, with a shelter now protecting the fragile remains. The mosaic floors are stunning:
In 1600 the lodge was sold to the Low family of London who in 1672 significantly extended the building by the addition of a second four-storey building to the west, which was joined to the original by a passage stairway creating an H-shaped footprint. The Lows owned Newark Park until 1722 when it was sold to the Harding family who after making some minor alterations sold it to James Clutterbuck. The Clutterbucks engaged the architect James Wyatt to remodel it into a four-square house in 1790.
The house was donated to the National Trust in 1946 by a widow with no descendants - so, unlike many National Trust houses, did not come through to them as a result of death duties. Over the years, the state of the house declined until Robert Parsons, a Texan architect, moved in and invested a wealth of time and passion, having taken Newark on a repairing lease from the National Trust from 1970 until his death in 2000, uncovering hidden windows from the original Tudor building that had been blocked in during later extensions.
For those of you travelling with me, either physically or vicariously, you may notice some similarities in the façade between Newark and Hardwick Hall - which makes sense as Newark was built about 30 years before Hardwick, and was part of its inspiration. As the day was turning wet, I didn't wander the extensive grounds and was only able to get a couple of shots of the outside: