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This fragment of mosaic formed part of an elaborate tessellated pavement which covered the floor of a two-chambered room in a Roman building at Cherhill, near Calne.
The panel shows a hunting dog bounding past a leafy tree, evidently in persuit of a stag or hind. The subject matter and style of the mosaic are so similar to the Christian mosaics from Hinton St. Mary and Frampton in Dorset, that they may all have been the work of the same mosaic craftsmen, perhaps based in or near Dorchester around the middle of the 4th century AD.
The mosiac was first discovered (and reburied) in 1913 in the grounds of Cherhill manor. Joint excavation by the Roman Research Trust, Littlecote and the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman mosaics uncovered all extant remains of the floor in 1984.
Presented to Devizes Museum by Mrs. T Oatley