The remains of a Roman villa were discovered in Brislington in 1899, during the construction of Winchester Road.

Villas were a new style of building introduced to the Bristol area by the Romans, around 1,700 years ago. They are generally thought of as a country house and estate, which was often, but not necessarily, associated with farming. The main building, with several rooms beneath one roof, was usually constructed of stone or brick, or at least had stone foundations. Decorated walls, mosaic floors, heated living rooms and bath suites, in various combinations, gave an air of luxury, comfort and relaxation.

The Brislington villa was excavated by The Clifton Antiquarian Club and the Bristol Museum Committee and appears to have been built about AD 270 in common with a number of other villas in the region. Records made during the excavation suggest that it had at least ten rooms and a bath area with hypocausts (under floor heating system) and mosaic floors. It appears to have been at the centre of a working farm with workshops for small-scale metalworking and was probably destroyed about AD 370.