Gatcombe at Ashton Watering within the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Long Ashton Long Ashton is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. It falls within the unitary authority of North Somerset and is one of a number of large villages just outside the boundary of city of Bristol urban area. The parish has a population ...

, Somerset, England, is the location of a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

which was built on the site of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

settlement. It is close to the

Land Yeo The Land Yeo is a small river which flows through North Somerset, England. It rises on Dundry Hill and supplies Barrow Gurney Reservoirs before flowing through various villages to Clevedon where it drains into the Bristol Channel. During the ...

river, the

A370 road The A370 is a primary road in England running from the A4 Bath Road, near Bristol Temple Meads railway station to Weston-super-Mare before continuing to the village of East Brent in Somerset. A more direct route from Bristol to East Brent is th ...

and the Bristol to Exeter railway line.

Roman settlement

Roman remains were first identified at the site in 1839 when a railway cutting was being constructed. Excavations in the 1960s showed that the site was occupied from the middle of the 1st century until at least the fifth century, demonstrated by the coins of

Theodosius Theodosius ( Latinized from the Greek "Θεοδόσιος", Theodosios, "given by god") is a given name. It may take the form Teodósio, Teodosie, Teodosije etc. Theodosia is a feminine version of the name. Emperors of ancient Rome and Byzantium ...

Magnus Maximus Magnus Maximus (; cy, Macsen Wledig ; died 8 August 388) was Roman emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 383 to 388. He usurped the throne from emperor Gratian in 383 through negotiation with emperor Theodosius I. He was made emperor in B ...

and

Arcadius Arcadius ( grc-gre, Ἀρκάδιος ; 377 – 1 May 408) was Roman emperor from 383 to 408. He was the eldest son of the ''Augustus'' Theodosius I () and his first wife Aelia Flaccilla, and the brother of Honorius (). Arcadius ruled the ea ...

which have been found. The full extent of the site is unclear, beyond a specific villa but there is some evidence that the site is much more extensive, possibly forming a village or even a town. It has been speculated that this may be the site of

Iscalis Iscalis was a Roman settlement described by Ptolemy. The exact location has not been clearly identified but the possible sites are in the modern ceremonial county of Somerset, England. One of the possible sites is at Gatcombe which was occupied ...

as described by

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

, however it has also been suggested this may have been at

Charterhouse Roman Town Charterhouse was a town in the Roman province of Britannia. Its site is located just to the west of the village of Charterhouse-on-Mendip in the English county of Somerset. Its Latin name may have been Iscalis, but this is far from certain. Bas ...

. The Roman site had a wide wall around it, enclosing an area of around , although this is obscured on the southern side near the railway line, A deep well has also been uncovered. At least nineteen agricultural buildings have been identified within the enclosure. In addition one building at the southern end of the site included a

colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...

and

mosaic A mosaic is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

and other features suggesting it was a sizeable

Roman villa A Roman villa was typically a farmhouse or country house built in the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, sometimes reaching extravagant proportions. Typology and distribution Pliny the Elder (23–79 AD) distinguished two kinds of villas n ...

. A magnetometry survey conducted during 2009 and 2010 identified several likely buildings outside the enclosed area. The site was connected to

Abbots Leigh Abbots Leigh is a village and civil parish in North Somerset, England, about west of the centre of Bristol. History The original Middle English name was ''Lega'', and the village became Abbots Leigh in the mid-12th century when Robert Fitzhardi ...

by a

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

Current building

Gatcombe Court was built in the late 14th century, based on a solar built by John de Gatcombe before 1254. The house was further altered in the late 17th century and again in the 20th century. The two-storey house has tiled roofs with attics into two steep gables. The garden includes a yew hedge which is believed to be 400 years old and a recently added Roman herb garden designed by

Jekka McVicar Jessica "Jekka" McVicar (born 1951) is an English people, English organic gardening expert, author, and broadcaster, particularly on the cultivation and use of herbs. Biography Born Jessica Stanley Clarke, she was brought up in Chew Magna, Som ...

. Near the house is an old mill on the

. There is evidence of a snuff mill at the site in 1769, however the current building dates from the early 19th century. By 1846 it had been converted to grind

mustard Mustard may refer to: Food and plants * Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment * Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment ** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...

annatto Annatto ( or ) is an orange-red condiment and food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree (''Bixa orellana''), native to tropical America. It is often used to impart a yellow or orange color to foods, but sometimes also for its flav ...

and drugs, but by 1874 was a flour mill. The internal machinery is still in place and the mill has been designated as a Grade II

. It was the family home of the Somerset Cricketer Osbert Mordaunt and then the family of Charles Clarke, of the

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

law firm

Osborne Clarke Osborne Clarke is an international legal practice headquartered in London, England with offices in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, France, the Netherlands, China, India via BTG Legal, Singapore, the United States and P ...

. It is now home to Stella Clarke. In the 17th century a farmhouse was built on the site. This was altered in the 19th century.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Roman villas in Somerset Scheduled monuments in North Somerset Grade II* listed buildings in North Somerset Grade II* listed houses in Somerset Buildings and structures in North Somerset Iron Age sites in Somerset