Help us keep our mosaic (From Stroud News and Journal)

Help us keep our mosaic

TOMORROW, July 1, is a great day for Gloucestershire.

It is the day that the Great Orpheus Roman Pavement goes on public display at its new home, Prinknash Abbey, near Painswick.

And today the Stroud News & Journal, in conjunction with the trust established to become caretaker of this fabulous Gloucestershire work of art, launches a fund-raising campaign to raise the money necessary to keep the pavement permanently at Prinknash.

The pavement on display at the abbey from tomorrow is not the original. It is a painstakingly faithful reproduction of the original and took almost 10 years to make, replicating the methods used by the Romans almost 2,000 years earlier.

The gaps created either by natural deterioration or damage during the dozen or so times the original has been uncovered have been filled in following meticulous research. Although it is a replica it is as close to the original as it is possible to come, it is a fantastically beautiful work of art in its own right and it is unique to Gloucestershire.

The danger is, however, that unless the money can be found to buy the mosaic from the present owner and a further £2 million raised to develop the existing building at Prinknash to house it and related exhibits, it will either remain in storage or be lost forever to the county.

The owner, Alec Lawless, has indicated that he is prepared to sell the mosaic to the trust for a third of it potential value so that it can remain in the county. If the money is not found before the temporary permission to house it at Prinknash runs out he will be forced to look elsewhere, possibly overseas, to find a buyer.

What you can do to help

The Gloucestershire Great Orpheus Roman Pavement Trust is determined that the pavement should be kept in Gloucestershire and at the Stroud News & Journal we feel that readers will want to do their bit to help.

Today we launch an appeal to raise £25,000 through readers of the SNJ each sponsoring a handful of the 1.6 million tesserae (tiles) which go to make up the fabulous pavement.

If every SNJ reader sponsors 10 tiles at 10p a tile the £25,000 target will easily be met. The aim is to reach the target by July 1 next year.

Not only would this help tremendously towards the cost of the project but it will show that the people of the Stroud Valleys are proud of their pavement, aware of its historical significance and are prepared to make their own contribution towards keeping it at Prinknash.

Everyone who sponsors at least 10 tiles will have their name recorded in a book to be kept at the mosaic's new home.

The Stroud News & Journal will give regular updates on how the appeal is going and any other news relating to the pavement project.

Donations of £1 and above can be taken in or posted to the SNJ offices at 6 Lansdown, Stroud, GL5 1BE. Cheques should be made out to Orpheus Roman Pavement Trust. Please support this appeal and prove that Stroud is proud of its heritage.

*The pavement can be viewed seven days a week, from 9am to 5.30pm in the summer and from 9am to 4.30pm in winter months.

THE Romans came, saw and left again but they did not depart without stamping their mark on the Five Valleys.

In the 18th century gravediggers unearthed a fabulous mosaic in Woodchester which had been hinted at in the literature of earlier times and the pavement was properly excavated and meticulously recorded by Samuel Lysons between 1793 and 1797.

The impressive Orpheus Pavement, made around 325AD, was the largest of 13 mosaic floors discovered by Lysons during his excavation of the Woodchester Roman villa. It was the floor of the main reception room of the villa.

Although damaged over the years, is one of the finest outside of Italy and the largest and most complex ever discovered North of the Alps.

Since its rediscovery the mosaic has spent most of its time back under the protective soil to shield it from the elements, though it has been uncovered in part or in its entirety on a number of occasions, the most recent in 1973 when hordes of curious visitors descended on Woodchester.

Two of those visitors were brothers Bob and John Woodward who were so struck by the scale and beauty of the work that they undertook to create a replica, accurate down to the last detail, and to fill in the blanks with the best available historical information.

The mammoth project took the brothers ten years to complete and the finished mosaic was made up of 1.6 million tiny tiles, or tesserae, using 12 tons or specially prepared clay.

They then set about trying to find a permanent home for the huge pavement, which measures over 50ft in width, but were unsuccessful in their search, prompting fears it might have to be sold and taken abroad in order to be displayed.

At this point Stroud businessman Alec Lawless stepped in, buying the piece after having become fascinated by the mythology and symbolism of the massive mosaic. A temporary exhibition was set up in Ebley in 2000 drawing in over 10,000 visitors in a few days.

Among the viewers was Stephen Wright, director of the Gloucestershire Rural Community Council who championed the idea of keeping the mosaic in the county where it was made.

Eventually, with the support of the monks, Prinknash Abbey was identified as a suitable site to house the replica pavement and last Monday planning permission was granted to display it in the disused pottery for the next five years.

Bob Woodward said he was thrilled to bits the mosaic had finally found a home. "It's like a dream come true," he said.

"And I had started to wonder if the dream would ever become a reality. "We've searched for a long time to find a good venue and it has really been worth the wait.

"Prinknash has so much to offer with it's breath-taking location and all the beautiful walks in the grounds.

"And the people there have been delightful to work with. "The mosaic looks quite splendid where it is and everyone's stunned to see it come together.

"I think gradually as the word gets around all the thousands of people who have flocked to see it in years gone by will want to come to see it again, particularly since the original can no longer be viewed and is unlikely to every be uncovered again. "It's got a tremendous future. Of all the places we could have found this one is the best."