A history fan who spent his £32,000 life savings buying a field because he believed there were secrets hidden below the soil has been proved right after unearthing a lost medieval city dailymail reports.

Stuart Wilson bought the 4.6 acre plot of land in South Wales more than a decade ago, because he believed it would become significant in Norman history.

Now, twelve years on, the 37-year-old has pieced together his findings to unveil the site as the ancient industrial town of Trellech, South Wales.

The city, which lies between Monmouth and Trelleck, is believed to date back to the 13th century and is thought to have been home to around 10,000 people, including Norman lords of the de Clare family who used it as a place to mass produce iron.

So far, Mr Wilson and his volunteers have discovered the remains of a manor house with two halls and a courtyard, enclosed with curtain walls and a massive Round Tower.

Within that manor house complex, the group has discovered several different rooms - both with fireplaces.

The volunteers have also found a well, in which they have discovered a nearly complete medieval pot, metal work, wooden objects and parts of leather shoes.

Mr Wilson - a former toll booth worker who moved back in with his parents so he could afford his field of dreams - said the discovery was highly significant. 

He said: 'This is a massive settlement dating back to the 13th century.

'At its peak, we're talking about a population of maybe around 10,000 people. In comparison, there were 40,000 in London, so it's quite large.

'This population grew from nothing to that size within 25 years. Now it took 250 years for London to get to 40,000 people, so we're talking a massive expansion.

'And that's just the planned settlement. The slums would have been quite numerous. There you would be talking even 20,000 plus. It's a vast area.'

He added that, from what had been discovered so far, it appears as though the inhabitants' life would have been tough.  

'If you're working in the fields you are living hand to mouth every single day - it's a really hard existence,' he said. 

'Suddenly, a big industrial town comes here, this is a great opportunity for you.

'You up-sticks - to hell with your land - 'let's move to the industrial town where the opportunity is'.'

He said the settlement was the home of several Norman lords of the de Clare family who used it as a place to mass produce iron.

'It probably had a population about a quarter of the size of medieval London, and it grew from nothing at a much faster rate over 25 years in the mid 1200s,' he added. 

The buildings appear seem to date back to 1300 A.D. when the town was reorganised and built in stone after the attacks by both English and Welsh forces in the previous decade.

Mr Wilson said evidence of the earlier town has been found below some of the buildings, with occupation on the site believed to have started 100 years previously.

By 1400 some of the buildings had fallen into ruin and by 1650 after the civil war the last of the buildings were abandoned.