Take a tour of Ancient Rome in Shropshire!

What have the Romans ever done for us? Well, thanks to a new TV series starting this month, visitors will soon be able get up close and personal with Ancient Rome - in one of Shropshire’s hidden tourist gems.

Bringing history to life, a new Channel 4 series has built a high status Roman town house on the site of the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, Wroxeter in Shropshire.

Over six weeks, starting Thursday 20 January, viewers can follow modern builders constructing the ‘Villa Urbana’ using traditional Roman methods in Wroxeter, once the city of Viroconium controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and about 410.

Visitors to the historic Shropshire village have long been able to walk amongst the remains of Wroxeter’s bathhouse and basilica and view the largest pieces of freestanding Roman masonry in the country – as well as tour an international award-winning vineyard dating back to an original Roman vineyard.

But from Saturday 19 February the newly built Roman villa will also open to the public, giving visitors a chance to see the replica fresh from its TV starring role. And for those wanting to learn a little more or stay a little longer, a Wroxeter hotel is offering special tours and events. (thewroxeterhotel.co.uk)

The Wroxeter Hotel - within walking distance of the Roman site of Viriconium as well as the town’s Anglo Saxon church and the vineyard, once the world’s most northerly red grape vineyard - is where the film crew stayed during the making of the TV series and is offering a range of group tours including:

• Wroxeter day visit with lunch from £30pp
• Group tour including Roman banquet, bed and breakfast from £100pp
• Or a short tour and afternoon tea from £9pp

The project to construct the Roman villa, which was built using tools only available in the 4th century, helps commemorate the 1,600th anniversary of the Romans leaving Britain in 410AD.

For more details about the Channel 4 programme, see: channel4.com/programmes/rome-wasnt-built-in-a-day

For more details about visiting the Roman villa: english-heritage.org.uk

For more short break ideas in Shropshire, see: visitshropshire.com