Pink granite column with links to Roman Emperor's villa found in Nottinghamshire park
A pink granite column previously thought to have been a work of public art could have been based on a huge portico leading to the 2nd century villa of an Emperor in Rome, according to archaeologists excavating for medieval remains in a popular Nottinghamshire country park.
Measuring four foot tall and covered in algae, the column contains a discreet shipping mark made by Lord John Savile, the keen 19th century archaeologist and philanthropist who owned Rufford Abbey as his stately home but carried out excavations at Lanuvium, on land that he owned, and at Nemi, with permission from the landowner.
Savile shipped items back to the UK between the 1880s and 1890s, donating them to museums including the Castle Museum in Nottingham. Read more.