Moles do digging for archaeologists (From Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard)

Moles do digging for archaeologists

THEY may not be a gardener's favourite creature but a colony of moles have been credited with one of Gloucestershire's most important archaeological finds for years.

Withington resident Roger Box, 54, a former forensic archaeologist, noticed burrowing moles unearthing fragment of Roman tiles in the molehills near his home and thought they were probably disturbing a long-lost Roman villa.

He contacted friends at Channel 4's Time Team archaeology programme and researchers were dispatched to the site in August last year.

Extensive research and exploration, including a geo-physical survey, revealed an Anglo-Romano villa, which could date back to the third century AD.

Surveys of the site uncovered the remains farm buildings and a bath house on the site which is just 300 yards from the villas discovered by Samuel Lyons in 1811.

Archaeologists say it is incredibly rare to find two villas of this size so close to each other.

Now experts think the newly discovered villa could be as historically important as the National Trust-owned Chedworth villa.

Mr Box, who designs and imports copies of Roman statues, said he was delighted with the discovery.

He said: "I live a few hundred yards from this strange site with bumps and protrusions all over it.

"The moles kept unearthing odd stones and tile pieces which I believed to be from an older site.

"Time Team came down to investigate and it was staggering what their geophysics machine found.

"We could see these remarkable structures showing up - it was very satisfying. The Time Team JCB scraped back the turf in one section and it revealed a mosaic pavement - it was a great feeling."

Mr Box said he had grudging admiration "budding amateur archaeologists" who revealed the find in their molehills but admitted he was not always a fan of the furry burrowing creatures.

He said: "My relationship with the moles breaks down dramatically when they decide to enter my garden.

"They destroy the place by digging tunnels everywhere and there's nothing I can do to stop them. I hate them."

The Time Team investigation of the site, Villas Out Of Molehills, will be shown on Channel 4 on January 29.