Is it possible that two old swords, buried only an inch below a field in Gloucestershire, contain the secret of a long-gone chapter of Britain’s history? The response of archaeologists who were working through fifteen days of continuous rain in January was an emphatic yes. The find of the Roman cavalry swords spatha close to the village of Willersey has illuminated the way to a settlement that not only connects the Early Iron Age with the Roman period but also, maybe, the Saxon invasion time..
The story began in March 2023, when Glenn Manning, a novice metal detectorist on only his second rally, swept his instrument across the northern Cotswolds soil. “Finding two swords in the same spot was amazing! The morning before the rally, I had a feeling I would find something special,” he recalled. That feeling proved prophetic. Beneath the surface lay two iron blades, already clipped and misshapen by farm machinery, perilously close to destruction. “The swords were within half an inch, no more than an inch, of oblivion,” said Peter Busby, Project Officer for Cotswold Archaeology, likening the find to “stars aligning.”
X-ray analysis at Historic England’s Fort Cumberland facility revealed the swords’ distinct personalities. One bore intricate decorative pattern welding down its center, a mark of higher status and cost; the other was plain, utilitarian. Both were cavalry weapons used between the early second and third centuries CE, designed for mounted combat. Traces of scabbards and copper alloy fittings accompanied the blades, adding layers to their story. Some historians suggest they may have been deliberately buried to prevent them from falling into Saxon hands during a time when Roman Britain was fracturing under external pressure.
The digging that came after, financed by Historic England and done together with Cotswold Archaeology, has changed a field that was being plowed into a complicated archaeological story. The first thing that archaeologists found was a massive Roman building made out of limestone which was maybe a winged villa built on top of an even older Iron Age settlement. There were some fragments of painted wall plaster which suggested that the walls were decorated, and at the same time, ceramic roofing and box flue tiles indicated that there was a hypocaust system in the building. This system, which was the first underfloor heating innovation and was invented in the first century BCE, worked by circulating hot air under floors which were raised on small pillars. In this way, the rooms were heated evenly and it was a very efficient method. The installation of such a system in Roman Britain was a sign of great wealth and high class and it was one of the reasons why villas could still be comfortable in cold weather.
Outside the villa’s footprint, the excavation team came upon three or four Iron Age ring ditches that were up to 18.5 metres in diameter each and could be the remains of ploughed-out roundhouses or burial mounds. Among the human remains dating from early to middle Iron Age that were recovered, there is also a burial where the upper right arm was encircled with an iron band. Near the burial, a horse skull was found in a trench, which might be a provision of ritual practice or sacrificial rites. The arm bone and the separate hand that were found in the ditch of another enclosure have caused the archaeologists to raise more questions about the site’s ceremonial or violent past.
The swords’ journey from soil to museum display reflects the collaborative spirit of Britain’s heritage community. Manning and the landowner donated the artefacts to the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, where they will be exhibited from August 2, 2025. “It’s a privilege to acquire such rare artifacts. This valuable addition of Roman weaponry at the museum broadens the story of life in the Cotswolds during the mid to late Roman period,” said museum director Emma Stuart. Kurt Adams, Finds Liaison Officer for Avon and Gloucestershire, praised the generosity that ensured these weapons would be “accessible to the public and enjoyed by everyone.”
For historians and archaeology enthusiasts, the Willersey site offers more than rare military relics. It provides tangible evidence of settlement continuity and adaptation across centuries, from Iron Age communities to Romanised villas, and into the uncertain years of Saxon expansion. As Ian Barnes, Senior Archaeologist with Historic England, noted, “This excavation provides valuable insights into the nature of settlement patterns from the Early Iron Age through to the Roman period in Gloucestershire.”
The field may yet yield more treasures, but already, these two swords have carved a place in Britain’s archaeological record silent witnesses to lives lived, battles fought, and histories waiting to be told.
