Don't get stuck in a rut! Have the top stories straight to your inbox for free - once a day, every day Yes please! Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Defences protecting plush suburban villas with heated floors along a previously-undiscovered Roman road through Leicester have been unearthed by archaeologists working on the site of one of the city’s next big building schemes.

Archaeologists are mapping out a fresh picture of how the Romans laid out our city 2,000 years ago - and how the bricks and stone used for their buildings and the old city wall were later scavenged by medieval builders for their own construction projects.

The work is giving a fresh insight into the city’s Roman and medieval past on land to the west of the city centre bordering the Rover Soar.

New discoveries include the footprints of plush Roman villas, with frescos and hypocaust heating systems – where hot air would circulate through the floors and walls – as well as a new road.

Archaeologists already knew about the public forum near the Southgates underpass and Highcross Street, and the 25 ft high bath-house wall – the Jewry Wall – which dates back to 160AD and remains one the tallest surviving sections of Roman masonry in Britain.

More recently they found a 3rd and 4th century cemetery outside the walled Roman town at the junction of Oxford Street and Newarke Street as well as an intricate mosaic – believed to be from a 4th century Roman townhouse – discovered two years ago during excavations near All Saints Church, in Vaughan Way.

The 9ft by 6ft mosaic is one of the best examples of a Roman floor ever discovered in Leicester.

The new site, being worked on by the same University of Leicester Archaeological Services unit that unearthed Richard III, is part of the city council-led regeneration of the run-down area around Soar Lane.

The 8-acre brownfield site on the city side of the River Soar runs from the Great Central Railway station up to Frog Island – and is being developed in partnership between Leicester City Council and Keepmoat Homes.

Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will start in 8 Cancel Play now

It has already been levelled prior to 60,000 sq ft of office space and 380 new homes going up, along with new public open space and café.

The university team has been on site for months, ensuring anything that would be lost during the building work is either preserved or recorded.

'This is one of many jigsaw pieces'

Site archaeological director Stephen Baker said it covered a huge chunk of the north west corner of the Roman city.

He said: “This is one of many jigsaw pieces and is giving us a better understanding of the city’s defences – which would have been a rampart, walls and ditches – and of what was within the walls.

“In the past we knew about the public baths and forum, but here there would have been quite high status buildings in what would have been quite a nice place to live.

“They would have been built of stone with mosaics and fine pottery and we have even found a building with underfloor heating.

“In probably around 190AD, a decision was made to build the new defences and what we think happened was there was a municipal order to knock down some of these buildings to make space.

“It’s a similar thing to the type of compulsory purchase that is done today but we have been able to excavate the buildings that were left.

“We have also found some evidence of industrial activity and there’s a Roman road that runs through the site which links back to the wider picture.

“We have been lucky to be able to see so much history across such a big site.”

Dr Richard Buckley is director of the University of Leicester Archaeological Services unit.

He said the old Roman wall was built of strong Charnwood granite, which over the following centuries would have been dismantled and recycled – leaving behind what he called “ghost lines”.

He said: “Not knowing what’s out there is what makes it so exciting – and each site ends up throwing out new questions.

“In the past we were dealing with very small sites – what’s been brilliant over the last 10-15 years is the high number of sites being redeveloped in this part of town where we can look at the whole landscape.

“What has been interesting about these excavations is that we now know Leicester would have had lots of big buildings – not just the public baths and forum.

“It’s all being carefully mapped so that we can build the masterplan of Roman and medieval Leicester, and we have done quite a bit of that already.”

The 15-strong team will be working on the site until around Easter.