A couple of weeks ago I was asked by the Manchester Children’s Hospital to help open a time capsule (not a request I get every day). The capsule was found when the old hospital building in Pendlebury was demolished.
The capsule looked nothing like the shiny space-age ones people where burying for the Millennium, so we were quite hopeful that it was quite old.
When it arrived in the lab it became obvious it was made of lead. Lead is very heavy and very soft, and also poisonous.
So, on went the gloves and I started to pry it open.
The moment of truth...
This was not easy but on the other hand it meant that the capsule was well sealed. When I did get it open I could see some news paper peaking out but when I tried gently put it out it wouldn’t budge. There was something else inside.
With the aid of sheet-metal cutters I cut open the capsule and safely removed the wodge of paper. The outer layers are the Manchester Guardian and The Times from 12th march 1935. Inside a couple of the Hospital’s annual reports, material relating to their 1935 fund raising appeal, an invite to the corner-stone laying on 13th March 1935 and few coins from the reign of king George V. There was also a newspaper from 1805; not sure what that was doing there.
I have been involved in several exciting discoveries in archaeology over the years but never such a modern one. It was pretty cool though and everything inside is so well preserved!
With the aid of sheet-metal cutters I cut open the capsule and safely removed the wodge of paper. The outer layers are the Manchester Guardian and The Times from 12th march 1935. Inside a couple of the Hospital’s annual reports, material relating to their 1935 fund raising appeal, an invite to the corner-stone laying on 13th March 1935 and few coins from the reign of king George V. There was also a newspaper from 1805; not sure what that was doing there.
I have been involved in several exciting discoveries in archaeology over the years but never such a modern one. It was pretty cool though and everything inside is so well preserved!
Want to see more photos?
Take a look at our Time capsule set on Flickr
wow that sounds so exciting!
What a fasciniating find!
That’s really interesting!
What happened to the contents?
It would also be exciting if someone came forward with some memories of the time capsule from when it was orginally sealed and buried (1935, I presume).
Imagine if the people who left it there knew it would be discovered one day! my 6 year old has just been involved in creating a time capsule at her school.. justin beber went in .. oh how things have changed