Saturday, January 17, 2026
The huge Roman villa unearthed in Margam
The footprint of the villa is 572 square metres, surrounded by fortifications, and according to the BBC, has been described by Dr Alex Langlands. the co-director of Swansea University's Centre for Heritage Research and Training, as a "really impressive and prestigious" building, likely to have been finely decorated with statues and mosaic floors:
The location, in a historical deer park, is significant because the land has not been ploughed or built on, meaning the villa's remains - less than a metre below the surface - look to be well preserved.
Those involved from Swansea University, Neath Port Talbot council and Margam Abbey Church said the discovery offered "unparalleled information about Wales' national story".
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"We've got what looks to be a corridor villa with two wings and a veranda running along the front," he explained.
"It's around 43m (141ft) long and looks to have six main rooms [to the front] with two corridors leading to eight rooms at the rear.
"Almost certainly you've got a major local dignitary making themselves at home here," he added.
"This would have been quite a busy place - the centre of a big agricultural estate and lots of people coming and going."
As a standalone structure, it is the largest villa yet to have been discovered in Wales.
Most of the known Roman remains in Wales are from military camps and forts, while grandiose estates like this are less commonly found.
The discovery would force experts to "rewrite the way we think about south Wales in the Romano-British period", Langlands said.
"This part of Wales isn't some sort of borderland, the edge of empire - in fact there were buildings here just as sophisticated and as high status as those we get in the agricultural heartlands of southern England."
It also showed that Margam - "a place that may even have lent its name to the historic region of Glamorgan" - was "one of the most important centres of power in Wales".
Further details of the team's findings will be shared at an open day at Margam Abbey Church today.
