DEEP under a Chiddingfold field, the remains of several Roman buildings have been discovered by a group of archaeology enthusiasts.

A recent field study led the group to believe there is a small collection of buildings and a spring under the field.

Archaeological officer for Surrey County Council, Tony Howe, led the study which has involved the Surrey Archaeological Society and SCC's conservation group.

Mr Howe explained that the site is already protected by the law as a Scheduled Monument and was first investigated by archaeologists in 1883.

"We had known that there was a Roman site in Chiddingfold for a long time but we didn't have the funding to investigate it further.

"There is little chance of the site being disturbed by construction work so it wasn't a top priority for funding. But we are very interested in finding out more about it," said Mr Howe.

It is still unclear as to the original uses of the buried buildings, although Mr Howe suggested one likely explanation is that there was a villa on the site with associated outbuildings.

"The villa explanation is a definite possibility because of its rural location. The fact that there would have been a ready water supply would also make this explanation fit well. But we can't be 100 per cent sure until we have made further investigations," Mr Howe added.

Further studies could help to reveal how the land around the buildings had been used and provide further clues about their uses.

Mr Howe said that using modern equipment it will also possible at some stage to find out whether the land, now underground but once surrounding the buildings, had been used for crop farming.

From the recent study, Mr Howe explained that enough information had been collected to show that the buildings were actually located 100 metres away from the site identified in 1883 and that the site was orientated in a completely different direction.

Several archaeological fragments were collected from the site during the investigation. These were catalogued and returned to their original positions.

The recently formed Roman Studies Group of the Surrey Archaeological Society is expected to carry out further work at the site later this year.

Anyone wanting to find out more about archaeology in the Waverley area should contact the Surrey Archaeological Society on 01483 532454.