Archaeologists were stunned by the discovery of a lost Anglo-Saxon church on the planned HS2 route.
They found the remains of an ancient church at the site of St Mary's Church, Stoke Mandeville, Bucks.
The team were excavating a site which is located along the HS2 railway route when they made the astonishing discovery.
The Norman church dates back to 1080 and the remains found are thought to have once been an Anglo-Saxon church.
Beneath the church, flint walls were found that are organised into a square structure.
There has been a team of over 40 archaeologists working to unveil the Anglo-Saxon church since September.
The Church of St Mary’s was built around 1080 in a damp, isolated spot around half a mile from the village during the Norman conquest.
It was eventually demolished after it was neglected and fell into ruin, and a new more, convenient church was built in the 19th Century.
Amazingly, after almost 1,000 years after it was built, the government’s HS2 railway line now needs to pass through the ruin.
Roman roof tiles have been found in the foundations of the ancient building, and it is thought that a Roman settlement existed near the church.
This means that some materials from the settlement could have been used in the building of the church.
And a team of archaeologists are excavating thousands of graves while preserving thousands more artefacts.
Dr Rachel Wood, the site’s lead archaeologist, spoke during a recent BBC documentary called 'Digging for Britain' and tells of how her team are to find out why there was a church in the middle of a field.
Archaeologist Guy Hunt told the documentary: “Those sculptures, that is so rare.
"To find that sort of thing in an archaeological context, it’s really, really rare.”
Dr Wood added: “You would be extremely lucky if you ever found anything like that, let alone more than one of them.”
The site made headlines in September, and during recent excavations, the team unearthed evidence of Iron Age, Bronze Age and even Roman activity.
However, there is a gap of more than 600 years, before they were able to find evidence of an Anglo-Saxon church buried beneath.
Archaeologists also found flint walls, and flint foundations that were around one metre wide.
At the time, Dr Wood explained: “To have so much of it remaining, including the walls and even some flooring, will provide a great deal of information about the site prior to the construction of the Norman church in 1080 AD.
“The discovery of this pre-Norman, possible Saxon Church is a once in a career opportunity for archaeologists and will provide a much greater understanding of the history of Stoke Mandeville.”
Last year, 3,000 medieval graves had to be moved from the church as part of HS2 planning.
They were moved to a new site and an official monument was built.
The discovery of the ruins has been deemed a "fantastic discovery".
