Ploughing a field has led to a fascinating glimpse back into farming life more than 2,000 years ago thanks to a rare discovery.

James Richards was working on his land at Tregaminion Farm near St Keverne when he unearthed a quern stone.

A primitive tool used for grinding grain into flour, the particular type found at Tregaminion is a saddle quern.

This would have been accompanied by a separate rubbing stone, to squash the grain – in a similar fashion to a giant pestle and mortar.

They were eventually replaced by hand turned rotary querns, which resembled mini millstones on top of each other.

Through his knowledge of these ancient tools, James has been able to predict what age the stone could be.

Explaining about the find on the farm’s Facebook page, James said: “This type of quern stone stopped being used in Cornwall approximately 2,000 years ago, but it could be much older.

“I couldn’t believe it. They are quite rare.”

After making the discovery, James invited local archaeologists on to the farm, to do some more surveying of the area.

They have found mainly Romano-British and medieval pottery, along with a few animal bones that James said he was “beside himself” about, although no one else appeared to share his enthusiasm.

He added: “There used to be a village associated with the church but it fell out of use and subsequently fell down, so I think we're finding the remnants.”