Have you ever dreamed of finding buried treasure? For London-based rug designer, Luke Irwin, that dream became a reality when he discovered the remains of a Roman villa in the garden of his Wiltshire home – the most significant discovery of its kind in over a decade.

In little over a year, Luke has learnt, via involvement with Historic England, that his Wiltshire home is the site of the Deverill Villa, one of the most significant Roman finds in decades – a vast two-storey ‘palace’ that once housed dignitaries of some importance. While Brixton Deverill may now be a sleepy backwater, the discovery of oyster shells, sarcophagi and seemingly endless ’tesserae’ blocks of Cirencester mosaic suggest that the peaceful valley may have once been quite the opposite.

He will be speaking with Tom Holland on Sunday morning 3rd July at 11.30am in one of our free ‘Pop Up History’ talks at the Festival. In the meantime, here he is talking about this amazing find..