Iron Age Roman settlement discovered in Gloucestershire

A Roman settlement from the Iron Age has been discovered following a rare sword find, archaeologists have said.

An excavation near a village in the Cotswolds revealed what could be evidence of a Roman villa.

It comes after the discovery of two iron Roman cavalry swords during a metal detecting event near Willersey in Gloucestershire two years ago.

The swords were later donated to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester.

Historic England then carried out surveys of the area where the swords were found which revealed the possibility of widespread prehistoric and Romano-British remains.

Excavations earlier this year found evidence of settlements stretching across several centuries.

These include several Iron Age ring ditches, a giant rectangular enclosure and remains of Roman limestone buildings.

The long swords found are believed to have been used by the Romans on horseback from early in the second century AD through to the third century AD.

It's not known how they ended up at the site.

"This excavation provides valuable insights into the nature of settlement patterns from the Early Iron Age through to the Roman period in Gloucestershire," said Ian Barnes who is a senior archaeologist at Historic England.

"This new evidence will help us to understand more about what happened around the period of the Roman Conquest, which must have been a tumultuous time."

More archaeological work will need to be carried out, and Historic England could then recommend to the government that the area should be recognised as a nationally important archaeological site.