Shell mosaic, Verulamium Museum. Click here to see image of Sir Mortimer Wheeler excavating this mosaic
Wealthy Romans had all mod cons beneath their feet: beautifully decorated floors and underfloor heating. St Albans in Hertfordshire is lucky enough to have some excellent Roman mosaics left by its former inhabitants, from the time when it was Roman Verulamium.
The award winning Verulamium Museum has several beautiful examples on display – see top and below.
Other Roman ruins in the town include a mosaic and hypocaust, a Roman theatre and a few sections of the old town walls.
The huge mosaic and hypocaust in what is now Verulamium Park were uncovered by Mortimer and Tessa Wheeler in the 1930s. Click here for an image showing the excavations.
The quality and size (around 220,000 tesserae!) indicate that it belonged to a substantial and wealthy Roman villa. In fact it is believed that this was just one room of a large two storey villa that would have been around 60 m long and contained at least 30 rooms. Both the mosaic floors and central heating system are in remarkably good condition. It was decided to leave them in situ in the park and a building has been constructed around them to protect them against the elements.
If you have any interest in Roman times this mosaic and the museum just have to be on your to-visit list. St Albans is just 20 minutes by train from London’s St Pancras Station.
Copyright Debbie Smyth, 8 August 2015
Travel with Intent 
Very interesting! I’ve never heard about this museum before, how nice.
#MondayEscapes
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So amazing! I wish we had underfloor heating technology in my home!
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I’ve moved house recently and I do have underfloor heating – probably not as efficient as the Roman system though
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I love how you took a slightly different angle by focusing on the art below the feet…sometimes its the things right under our nose that are the most memorable! #MondayEscapes
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Oh my! If I am ever lucky enough to visit London again, I will definitely reserve some time to explore St. Albans. What treasures you discovered!
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I hope you manage to get here
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To think of walking on such beautiful floors! If I wasn’t so lazy I could do my patio in a mosaic.
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It would be rather nice wouldn’t it.
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I’d love to see these in person. I’m definitely into the roamin’ Romans.
janet
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These are definitely pieces of art.
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And they are in such good condition!
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Haven’t been to the museum for quite a while, so I enjoyed your photos 🙂
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Oh, goodness – I haven’t been to Verulamium since I was a child….. But in Sicily this year came across an amazing villa, but you couldn’t take photos. I got a couple of surreptitious ones, but shot white balance 😦
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That’s a shame. Though you can recover white balance in editing – do you shoot in raw? I was carrying my camera as I went into the museum and they actually told me that I could use it. Oh Sicily. I still want to go there!
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Oh yes, I always shoot RAW….but I’m finding this one a devil to get right!
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That’s a shame
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Oh, and I want to return to Sicily!
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Wonderful images, the mosaics are beautiful. Thanks for sharing your visit to the museum! Have a happy weekend!
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Fascinating response, Debbie!
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Thanks Paula I was actually at the museum yesterday so the weekly theme was just what I wanted!
On Sat, Aug 8, 2015 at 11:56 AM, Travel with Intent wrote:
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Don’t you love when this happens 😀
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As soon as I started reading this post I thought I recognised the top photo! I’ve been to the Verulamium Museum, and park, many times, and it is a fascinating place.
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I moved to St Albans a year ago and this was my first time in the museum. I was very impressed and will definitely go back.
On Sat, Aug 8, 2015 at 11:35 AM, Travel with Intent wrote:
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It is certainly worth several visits (and is good for entertaining children!). I like the amphitheatre too, as you can really get a feel for what it must have been like in all its glory.
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