Unusual Finds!

[bill1953]

Has anyone ever found anything unusual during renovations or digging the land? Old artifacts, coins, hidden doorways/rooms, or anything unusual? About 35 years ago a friend of mine bought a large Victorian Gothic semi with a spire on one corner. He was renovating the landing and had a look at an old built- in cupboard with four or five shelves fitted. He decided to use this for hanging clothes in and took the shelves out one by one. He was expecting this to be difficult and them to have been nailed in etc. They came out very easy and had been solidly fitted but without screws or nails. The back was covered in old wallpaper and when he removed the last shelf, the back swung outwards like a door. There was a well constructed but narrow carpetless staircase leading up to a loft area. Grabbing a torch he ventured upwards. Built into the loft was a small room about fifteen feet by eight feet. It was lined with tongue and groove sheeting obviously done years ago. It had an iron frame single bed with stripey mattress, old woollen blankets and a stripey pillow. There was a small table and a pottery jug with a glass covered in dust. An old chamberpot lay near the bed. Some newspapers old and crumbling were on the floor dating from the later years of WW1. There was no light or window. Rusty candle holders, one with a candle were scattered about. Neither the estate agent or the previous owner of nearly 20 years had and knowledge. The regular loft entrance led to a separate part of the loft where the water tanks were. Somebody had gone to a lot of trouble to hide someone else away. But who was it? A prisoner held hostage? A secret mistress! A criminal on the run or, more likely, worried parents hiding away their only son following conscription being introduced in WW1 believing a few years in an attic was better than the mud and death of the trenches? My mate did not want to have the press crawling around his house and promptly bricked the entrance up and plastered over it. Probably it remains hidden to this day.

[seasidegirl]

Fascinating story, Bill. If only walls could talk!

I've never found anything interesting in a house. When I was a kid we found a large crater in a wood, which we decided was a bomb-hole but then we found it full of old victorian glass bottles. Lots of blue ones with marble stoppers. We all took a few home and made collections in our garden. No idea what happened to them.

Our current house had the fires set when we moved in, ready to light with newspaper, kindling, some firelighter lumps and coal.
We took it all out and got the chimney swept and the papers were dated 1988. They had been waiting for a match for over 20 years.

I made a time capsule for the millennium but didn't bury it because I saw on Blue Peter (culture-vulture me) that its very hard to keep the water out.
We were moving anyway so I just put it in the loft wherever we live.

[wabbit955]

when opening up the chimmey in my 1900 terracce house i found the remains of a cat that looked like it had just been dry out no damage
was dated to be 70 years old its now in the little local musem

[Thomzo]

When I moved into this house, there was an old shed that was falling down and blocked the entrance to part of the garden. I asked my builder to knock it down and take it away. Underneath he found the desiccated remains of two foxes

When I moved into an old farmhouse near Bristol, I found several car parts strewn around the garden. I also found over 1,000 glass bottles and jars, brand new and still in their packaging. Sadly most were broken or full of water and algae.

We didn't find a priest hole or secret chamber, though, despite that house having been old enough.

Zoe

[the.fee.fairy]

oooh how interesting!

Was there anything in the deeds for the years on the papers?
Shame it was bricked up. I think I'd have kept it open :)

[bill1953]

I don't know if he ever checked that out. I doubt it as he just was not interested in it. I only saw it the once and next time I visited it was bricked up!

[romie]

I wish i had the fortitude to brick a find like that up, I'm afraid I'd have been takings photos and telling everyone, which is absolutely the wrong thing to do, but I'm just so nosey and fascinated by things

[bill1953]

How interesting, it gave me goose bumps reading that. We're currently renovating our 400 year old cottage, unfortunately all we have found to date is broken china, cobwebs and dead mice We intend to build in a little time capsule so that future generations have something exciting to find

Done quite a few time capsules myself!

[bill1953]

Fascinating story, Bill. If only walls could talk!

I've never found anything interesting in a house. When I was a kid we found a large crater in a wood, which we decided was a bomb-hole but then we found it full of old victorian glass bottles. Lots of blue ones with marble stoppers. We all took a few home and made collections in our garden. No idea what happened to them.

Our current house had the fires set when we moved in, ready to light with newspaper, kindling, some firelighter lumps and coal.
We took it all out and got the chimney swept and the papers were dated 1988. They had been waiting for a match for over 20 years.

I made a time capsule for the millennium but didn't bury it because I saw on Blue Peter (culture-vulture me) that its very hard to keep the water out.
We were moving anyway so I just put it in the loft wherever we live.

That's really interesting!

[bill1953]

when opening up the chimmey in my 1900 terracce house i found the remains of a cat that looked like it had just been dry out no damage
was dated to be 70 years old its now in the little local musem

That's interesting too!

[bill1953]

When I moved into this house, there was an old shed that was falling down and blocked the entrance to part of the garden. I asked my builder to knock it down and take it away. Underneath he found the desiccated remains of two foxes

When I moved into an old farmhouse near Bristol, I found several car parts strewn around the garden. I also found over 1,000 glass bottles and jars, brand new and still in their packaging. Sadly most were broken or full of water and algae.

We didn't find a priest hole or secret chamber, though, despite that house having been old enough.

Zoe

Wow, were they in a den or just under the shed? x

[Graye]

We have some friends who bought a big Georgian terraced house early last year. They had a survey and all was reported as satisfactory. A few months later they had the outside painted. The painter asked them to open one of the back windows so he could paint the frames but every one they opened wasn't the one he was working on. Eventually they realised the window belonged to a room they hadn't seen. It took a lot of finding but they eventually discovered a papered over and bricked up door off the second floor landing which led into a very large room which had been totally missed by them, the surveyor AND the previous owners. From the style of decoration in there they came to the conclusion it had been bricked up around WWI. £450 for a new door jamb & door and they have suddenly gone from a five to a six bedroom house complete with another small windowless boxroom (now an en-suite). And also increased its value enormously of course. I know they were wondering whether they might claim a refund of fees from the surveyors but I suppose they would come up with an excuse...

[MKG]

That's fascinating, Graye!!!

Of course, there's a huge begged question, isn't there?

Exactly why was it bricked up? (Cue ghost stories, grisly murders etc.)

Mike

[Graye]

They concluded it had been the room of someone who just didn't make it in WWI and the family just bricked it up. But there was no furniture which I suppose novelists would lead you to expect in those circumstances. There wassprobably a much more mundane explanation. Perhaps it was just to do with paying less rates if they "lost" a room!

[bill1953]

Yes I have known this to happen because of rates. My parents house had two hidden rooms off the loft. These had been sealed off when the house was divided in 1949 and the access to them was from next door only. Me and my Dad found them when we were in the huge loft and noticed what had been an access door to the loft area from one of the rooms. we entered and found two huge sealed off rooms. They stayed sealed off. The house was sold last year and the new owner intends building a staircase and accessing them from below on the first floor.