3 community information events in 2026
Cullompton – Fri 6th February (approx 180 attendees)
Tiverton – Fri 20th February (approx 200 attendees)
Sampford Peverell – Saturday14th March (approx 90 attendees)
March 2026
The SHARE project appointed their main archaeology contractor, Cotswold Archaeology, who will be leading the community excavations, including volunteer training, and overseeing the analysis and writing up of everything found, in the ‘post-excavation’ stage of the project.
A mailing list was set up and over 600 people expressed an interest in keeping up to date with what was happening at Battens Farm.
Project dates and plan
University field school -1st year archaeology students dig: 20th May - 10th June
Community excavation: 22nd June - 17th July
School / Education visits: 29th June - 15th July
Site open day: Saturday 6th June 10am-4pm
Site open day and Roman Fun Day (Halberton Village Hall): Saturday 11th July 10am-4pm
April 2026 - Trial
trenches
During the second half of April, Cotswold Archaeology and a team of existing TAG and SPS members undertook some small-scale excavations on site, to provide more information about what might be found in the summer, and to help decide where best to locate the large open-area trenches.
Two trial (or 'evaluation') trenches were opened across areas where there were substantial quantities of building material recovered through previous fieldwalking and hints of possible buildings in the geophysics results. This revealed remains of walls relating to two new buildings, in addition to the previously known villa.
highlight so far is a tank-like structure, containing opus signinum. Opus signinum is Roman waterproof concrete, made from lime mortar mixed with crushed pieces of broken pot, tiles or brick. It provided damp-proofing and, during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, was widely used in Roman baths, aqueducts, cisterns and any buildings involving water – including Roman houses. There were also fragments of painted plaster.
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| Initial photo of the water tank structure emerging from the trench in area 2 - the outbuildings Courtesy of the SHARE Project |
May 2026 - University Field School finds
Two enormous trenches have been opened up on site, one over the main villa range, and another over a series of outbuildings. These will be the focus of excavations over the next nine weeks, but already it can be seen that the buildings might extend further than previously thought.
Almost immediately, there were some really exciting finds, including this beautiful intaglio, made of layered blue glass, with a depiction of the Roman goddess Victory. It would originally have been set within a ring, and would have been pressed into wax to seal documents.
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| Blue glass intaglio with Victoria, Roman goddess of Victory Courtesy of the SHARE Project |
Interesting finds after the first four weeks of the students' dig:
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| an indented beaker Courtesy of the SHARE Project |
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| Painted Pottery Courtesy of the SHARE Project |
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| A Samian ware mortarium with a lion head spout Courtesy of the SHARE Project |
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| an enormous storage jar deliberately set into the ground Courtesy of the SHARE Project |
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| a delicate copper alloy bangle was found lying on top of the mosaic Courtesy of the SHARE Project |
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