EXPERTS face a race against time to map out the remains of a Roman farmstead discovered by archaeology enthusiast Karen Burgess while walking her dogs on a building site.

Mrs Burgess, 44, of Newcroft Road, Calne, discovered fragments of ancient pottery, bone and glass while she was walking her Jack Russell in a field sandwiched between the town's bypass and Beversbrook Lane.

Delighted Wiltshire county archaeologist Roy Canham examined the finds and said he believed she had discovered a small Roman farm.

But building work on houses at the site, which is being developed by Persimmon Homes, is due to start imminently and because of this Mr Canham will have to work fast to survey the site.

Mrs Burgess, who studied archaeology in a ten-week course at Calne College ten years ago, said: "I'm very surprised. I had no idea there was that kind of stuff there. Anything to do with the olden times has always fascinated me.

"It's like an addiction, you can't help but pick it up. I found dozens of clay pipes and I told myself I wasn't going to pick up anymore, but how can you resist. It's so exciting."

Mr Canham said when he first looked at the fragments which Mrs Burgess had found most of it appeared to be 18th century, which he said was interesting, but not unusual. "Then I spotted other fragments, which were Roman," he said. "I haven't inspected them all fully yet, but they seem to be predominantly items such as cooking pots, storage jars etc, which point to there being a domestic settlement at the site."

Mr Canham said there were no records of a settlement there and admitted his team would never have known about the site if Mrs Burgess had not stumbled upon it.

He said: "Because we knew nothing of this site, planning applications for the building work have gone through uninterrupted and it is now unlikely that we will be able to excavate the site.

"Had we known, we would have got something sorted before it was too late."

Mr Canham said the county's archaeology department will talk to the developers and ask permission to carry out a survey, which will give them an indication of the size of the settlement.

"Sadly because of the circumstances, we may never know fully what was there," Mr Canham said."But nonetheless, we do have the chance to carry out a survey on what is a very exciting find."

Mrs Burgess also hopes further investigations can be carried out. "I think it would be wonderful if the developers could give a little time to carry out an excavation," she said.

Mr Canham said the discovery was significant because in Roman times the area would have been covered in dense woodland. "So discovering this site means the Romans actually cut away at the forest to begin farming," he said.