The first project undertaken by the Group was carried out in September 2002 and involved a detailed survey of the ploughsoil in the field containing the Roman building at Whitebeech, Chiddingfold. First discovered in 1883 and subsequently excavated by the Rev T S Cooper, the site was finally published by John and Marian Gower in Surrey Archaeological Collections Vol 75 (1984). One of the largest Roman buildings in Surrey, the site has always appeared an oddity, both in its location deep within the Weald as well as in its position at the top of a hill, its north-south orientation and indeed in its unusual building plan.
David Bird, chairman of the Roman Studies Group, has recently suggested (Surrey Archaeological Collections Vol 89, 245-248) that the building may in fact not be a villa as such, but a religious complex similar to the one at Uley in Gloucestershire. While the original work by the Rev. Cooper was to a high standard for his time it falls far short of modern standards and as a first step to re-interpreting the site Dr Bird arranged, with kind permission of the landowner, for a team of volunteers under the supervision of David Graham and Tony Howe to carry out a detailed field survey. This was intended partially as a training exercise and partially to locate the exact position of the Roman buildings - which was far from clear in the original report.
David and Audrey Graham spent an initial day surveying and gridding out the field into 100m squares, each subdivided into 10m squares and all tied into the OS grid. For the following five days volunteers systematically collected material from each square and, under supervision, sorted it into categories, weighing and recording everything on one of Tony’s forms before returning the material to its original square on the field.
The end result of this laborious process is a series of distribution plans which show, for instance, the scatter of flintwork across the field and its close relationship to the distribution of fire-cracked flint potboilers. More importantly, the Roman buildings seem to show up very clearly, being represented by large quantities of roof and flue tile as well as by tesserae and associated material. The only downside is that there were signs that metal detecting had taken place over the field - which is illegal since the site is a scheduled monument.
The project has therefore proved very successful, both in terms of the direct results and also in terms of training in finds recognition and in fieldwalking techniques. All those who took part seemed to enjoy themselves, as the field slowly but surely revealed the history preserved in its ploughsoil.
