Needing Answers
Acknowledging his paranoia, he explained all he knew about this mysterious area and why it freaked him out.
The expert knelt down and studied it further. He nodded as Irwin talked. Suddenly, he burst with excitement, confirming that this was the most incredible find of his career. Confused, Irwin asked, “What is all this?”.
Luke Irwin
UK-native, Luke Irwin loved to play ping-pong with his kids. As a famed rug designer, he was a busy man. His job often took him away from his family so he cherished the moments he could hang out with his kids, doing something they loved.
But as the evenings grew dark, they couldn’t play ping pong, so Irwin decided to install some outdoor lights.
Standing His Ground
Irwin took the electricians to the backyard and showed them what he had in mind. But there was a small disagreement when they advised Irwin to use overhead electrical wiring instead of his planned underground wiring. However, Irwin was adamant.
And thankfully so, or he might have never found what lived just beneath the surface of his backyard.
Drenched In Mystery
The electricians went back to their truck to take out their equipment. When they returned, they asked Irwin about an interesting-looking open stone container they passed on their way back.
“Oh, that”, Irwin shrugged, “It’s an old trough. No one seems to know anything about that”. However, Irwin was holding back. He did know something about that trough. Something that sent a shiver up his spine.
Unshakable Feeling
As the men started to drill into the ground, Irwin couldn’t stop thinking about the night he walked past the mysterious trough and felt a sudden chill ripple through his body.
No matter what time of the day, Irwin always got the feeling that the trough looked mystical. Something with an untold story, both sinister and dark. But it was just a feeling, afterall. No one knew how it came to be, yet.
Surprise
Irwin left the men to do their work and was pottering about his kitchen when he heard a loud shout coming from one of the men.
Alarmed, he ran out to see what was happening. The man hit something hard. Throwing the pickaxe to the side, the man rubbed his wrist, looked to Irwin and back to the dug-up ground. Irwin’s eyes followed his and he gasped.
Making Sense Of Nonsense
The other electrician peered over his shoulder, wide-eyed. Grabbing two shovels from the floor, he tossed it to his colleague and they started to dig.
Irwin’s mind was racing. He didn’t quite understand what was happening right before him. He looked towards the direction of the mysterious trough, trying to make sense of the nonsensical.
Facing The Truth
The men kept digging and what was being found became clearer and clearer, until Iwrin couldn’t fool himself any longer. He was living on top of something out of the ordinary.
Looking into the ground, Irwin felt overwhelmed. “How could something like this be buried”, he thought. How did he live on top of something so extraordinary for so long. He knelt down and reached out his hands.
An Artists Understanding
Running his fingers above the cold, smooth patterned surface, he felt a connection so deep, it took over his imagination. He envisioned the tough hands of the workers who created this as they built something from nothing.
He thought about his rugs. How they are put together, string by string. Each weave telling its own unique story. This was no different.
Experts Needed
“We knew the significance of that straight away,” Irwin said. He called an expert over immediately to tell him more, or at least confirm what it was he was thinking.
Once the experts arrived, they started digging in more areas than Irwin thought they would have. It was obvious from their reaction and excitement that this was something big.
Piecing It All Together
Then Irwin led an expert to the trough. Acknowledging his paranoia, he explained the backstory to this stone slab, he was eager to get an expert's take on this.
The expert circled the trough, knelt down and studied it further. He nodded as Irwin unloaded all the information he could. Then he burst with excitement as he told Irwin that this was the most incredible find of his career. “What is all this?” Irwin asked.
A Buried Empire
18 inches below the surface, lay a colourful tiled Roman mosaic floor, dated somewhere between 175 and 220 AD.
The chilly english weather had preserved the tiles so well that its colours were still as striking and vibrant as they would have been more than 1,500 years ago when they were first built. But that’s not all.
Mystery Uncovered
The mysterious trough? Turns out that was the piece that put all of this together. Irwin was right to sense something sinister about that stone container because it was actually a Roman child’s coffin!
It was then discovered that Irwin's house actually sat on top of an elaborate and extraordinary Roman villa, belonging to a family of supreme wealth and importance.
A Rich And Powerful Land
Irwin couldn’t believe he was sitting on top of such a significant discovery for so long. He quotes Dr. Roberts, an Historic England archeologist, who says, “Everything about this villa suggests it was made of the highest-quality materials,”.
He also adds, “We have identified bits of stone that have come from at least 13 different British quarries. This was the country house of a powerful, rich Roman.”
Inspiration From The Gods
Not only did Irwin have the luck of finding and living in a national place of significance, but he was also able to take inspiration from and honor his Roman Empire find the best way he knew how - designing rugs!
Irwin explained, “Here’s a decorated floor from the fourth century. The conclusion I came to is that you cannot spit in the eyes of the gods when such a gift is given to you.”