The 4th-century building included a heated and furnished west wing containing a dining-room (triclinium) with a fine mosaic floor, as well as two separate bathing suites: one for damp-heat and one for dry-heat.

Historians have debated whether Chedworth was a villa rustica or a religious sanctuary and hostel, as evidence has been found in support of both arguments.

It was located just off the Roman road known as the Fosse Way, and 8 mi (13 km) north of the important town of Corinium Dobunnorum (Cirencester).

[3] Cirencester's reputation as a centre of tribal government and a civitas capital led to quick romanisation of the area and resulting concentration of wealth.

[10] In the early 3rd century (Phase II) the west and south wings were rebuilt following a fire, and the north bath suite was enlarged with extra rooms added to its eastern side.

[19] Finds included coins, hexagonal tiles, fragments of pillars, part of a shell-headed niche and glass tesserae.

[19] Another carved figure was discovered bearing a fragmentary inscription which it is believed may refer to the healing god Mars Lenus, a deity of the Treveri tribe in Gaul.

[16] The villa was accidentally discovered in 1864 by Thomas Margetts, a gamekeeper who was digging for a ferret,[20][21] and found fragments of mosaic tesserae.

The owner of the land was the Earl of Eldon,[22] and it was he who financed the excavations, roofing for the mosaics, and the building of the mock-Tudor lodge to house the artifacts.

[23] A new excavation campaign started in 2013 on the north wing and has revealed previously unrecorded mosaics, partially destroyed by Ian Richmond in 1964.

[27] The pavement mosaics in several rooms exhibit the typical geometric meander patterns found in other Roman villas throughout England.

[28] The National Trust considered that Victorian efforts at site conservation were outdated and that the early shelters were not providing sufficient protection.

[29] They appointed Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios to design a new conservation building as well as a learning facility for the archaeological site.