Brading Roman Villa

This place is simply amazing. It offers a glimpse into life in Roman Britain, in this case the high social status of its occupants and stands out for its well-preserved mosaics. All archeological finds are well labeled with easy to understand descriptions. There are many educational activities offered for children, and our 8-12 y/o had lots of fun participating. In addition, on the day we visited, there was. an adventure trail offered, with maps, tasks and final reward (ice pop) offered. Our kids had lots of fun exploring the Villa and we adults found it truly fascinating. There is a gift shop, restrooms and spacious coffee shop on the premisses, plentiful parking. Highly recommend visiting.

If you go to the IOW and you are interested in Roman history in England this is a very easy villa to find. It is wheelchair accessible it is good for all ages it has a small gift shop, and a nice cafe for a drink and food. The staff are very helpful and welcoming. There is a good car park and great views outside.

Not the best Roman mosaics you will ever see but the building complex and presentation is good, staff are friendly, useful videos put the building in context. Check out the hypocaust outside. An interesting visit. Worthwhile. Toilets, shop and cafe.

This was a great place to visit! The kids loved it and we found plenty to whilst there! Staff are super nice and cheese scones on point! We made tiles and memories. Thank you

This villa and it's surroundings are quite simply stunning. Excellent information from knowledgeable volunteers with a delightful cafe and shop. A return ticket will enable us to visit as much as we like before we leave. Excellent.

What a wonderful place to visit, big area under cover to protect the site but also visitors from the weather. More of the site out doors if the weather is kind. Amazing to see, very knowledgeable staff, café to enjoy too, highly recommend this place, I learned so much whilst here.

My boyfriend and I absolutely loved it, I was shocked to see how big the actual site is. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and funny too. Looking around was fascinating at how the tile kept it's colour for hundreds of years. I would definitely recommend.

If you are interested in Roman history this is a great example of their mosaic floors. As it is mainly indoors it’s a good way to pass an hour or two on a rainy day. The information covers both the mosaics and buildings themselves along with how they were excavated so if you only have a passing interest you could be in and out in 20 minutes. If you want to find out more there’s lots of information and helpful knowledgeable volunteers available. There’s also a good size cafe and outdoor space and a small shop.

So we decided to check this place out after the Osborne house, and arrived around 3pm to a semi-ominous delegation of dozens of crows. I believe I first read about it on Yelp or Trip Advisor, as something worth seeing that is a bit off of the beaten path on the Isle of Wight. The villa "was the home and estate of a cultured farmer and administrator in Roman-British times." Yes, Roman-occupied Britain, circa the 3rd century (AD 250). Excavated in this century and preserved as a museum, it was a pretty neat slice of the times. We saw the outlines and rooms of a home, including the original mosaic tiles, which was extremely fascinating. And the way they introduced each rooms was... interesting. Sort of like the narrator was a friend, using a first-person narrative describing the rooms in their homes. "Let me begin to explain the floor of what I think of as my private room. The mosaic is dedicated to Bacchus the god of wine and good things. You can see two of the images. I've also shown gladiators, one with a net advancing with trident and dagger towards the armoured opponent, whose helmet is just visible." Commonly, the mosaics depicted something to do with myths: Medusa, Perseus, Andromeda, the "cockheaded man" (... chicken-headed). Laid out with glass walkways elevated above the excavated floor, you're able to peer down or across at interesting parts of history. There are also a lot of displays arranged around the villa, showing anything from dog skulls and bones ("Discovered down the well with human remains, suggesting ritual offerings to influence the gods.), coins ("Bronzian of the Emperor Allectus 293-296 AD, found in Room 31 during the 2004 excavations.), chunks of stone featuring footprints in the tile ("The floor tile found in the well bears a human footprint, studded sandal impressions, and a dog's paw print. It is called a bipedalis, a type commonly used to cap a hypocaust floor."), and even some pictures of how the villa came to be buried over the centuries. THE VERDICT: Small, but interesting Roman-occupied villa. I think if you're nearby, it's definitely worth a quick trip because of the ancient, original pieces and tilework that you are see. It's sort of amazing to look down on a mosaic floor that still bears colored tiles. I definitely appreciate old things, and I get an almost dizzying sense seeing places like this. But I can also see how it might be boring to other people who just aren't as interested in stuff like this. To me, it was a fun experience, and I'm glad we stopped in and checked it out. MY TIME: We spent less than an hour here, including getting some cream tea. TIPS/SUGGESTIONS: -The villa is roofed, so you don't have to worry about getting rained on. -Highly wheelchair-accessible.

It's hard to imagine what this villa would have looked like a few years ago before it's spanking new timber clad cover building was erected. What I like about this museum is that it displays photos of the previous building and also gives a load of information on the original Victorians who discovered it. Clearly the main focal point of the museum is the excavation of the foundations and mosaic floor, but there is so much more information scattered around the walls about the commmitment of preserving such a monument. I didn't realise this before, but this roman villa is one of the top 10 in Europe apparently. The building is hidden away in a valley, but as you drive up to it you get your first sight of the building which is absolutely stunning. Now, me and the other half work with buildings every day so we probably spent a bit too much time admiring the building, but even for the less obsessed there is much to admmire! Well done to all those involved in getting the building up and running and for making an apparent success of it all. There were plenty of kids doing activities when we were there and that has to be the key to survival I think.

I made the mistake of thinking I could walk here from the zoo at Sandown. And yes, it was possible and I managed (and my ex as well) but we had to brave a severely rutted field and a trainline. Yes a trainline. And then we had to squeeze through this padlocked gate thing. I advise using a car and a road. The building housing the villa remains is absolutely beautiful, hidden away up a private road. There is a lot of land there, with another earthwork behind the museum (where local teenagers should go if they have brains). This was a villa belonging to a rich Briton who worked in league with the Romans. Apparently Brading had some kind of harbour which in fact existed until the 1500s when it was filled in! The field we walked over would have been the sea at one time. The harbour was one of the major Roman ports, they got all kinds of things out of the Isle of Wight. The reason why there are so few wild animals left in Britain is because the romans ate them all, or stuffed them in other animals and then ate them. As you might expect there is a slightly weird mood in the museum, as you gaze down on someone's 2000 year old floor and realise that human beings were just the same then as they are now. Earn a lot of money and spend it on your floor. There are not many mosaics, and if you've seen the ones at Epidaurus in Greece they might be a little disappointing (may have got the place wrong, they're in Greece somewhere) but still very beautiful and well worth the trek. The colours have faded a lot though. Outside is the well, hidden away in a tiny little shed. There are games for kids to play, and dress up clothes as well.

Having been on my first villa trip with school, a long time ago, we decided to visit Brading Roman Villa to see if it was a good as we remembered. There's a wonderful garden at Brading that we didn't see at the last Roman villa we were at, and they do say that it wasn't necessarily part of the original Villa but they've tried to keep it as accurate to what the Romans would have grown anyway. It's stunningly nice. The actual Villa remains are improved by the quality of the visitors centre, which includes the token gift shop with a chance to buy some replica coins. The centre includes a variety of original mosaics that were discovered as part of the villa site which are all very interesting. I felt the entrance free was a little high, but it's clear the quality of the visitors centre needed to be funded somehow. Take your kids, it's an interesting day out!

This is a small but really excellent example of a Roman villa, and the mosaic floors which have been excavated are quite beautiful. Perched on a hill top above Brading, the views are wonderful. There is a lot of good information, and photographic documentation of the excavation process. The souvenir shop is small, but adequate.