What's the most interesting link to the past you've found in your Period Property?

[LadyArowana]

Our house dates to 1767, but all we have found was a newspaper from the 1970’s with an advert for a “Pie Supervisor” to work at a local processing factory, disappointing really. Stripping back all the walls shows evidence of when some rooms had partitions and there was the remains of a loo in the vaults, but nothing at all remarkable.

[CliffordPope]

Cat skeleton buried in the wall.

[philpjuk100]

We found a jug in the roof, "witch bottle"? but no stopper and only full of dust and dead flys, now replaced in the same position, when a neighbour's house was surveyed a cat was found in the roof of an outshut.

jug

HPIM1278.JPG (100.58 KiB) Viewed 389 times

jug

HPIM1278.JPG (100.58 KiB) Viewed 389 times

cat

kelham cat.jpg (156.27 KiB) Viewed 389 times

[Gothichome]

A pair of worn out shoes between the walls by the front door threshold. At least so far. Also found a few dead bats and a squirrel skeleton beside an aluminum pan filled with strychnine does that count?

[Easrow]

Most of our house has been renovated in the past, in the 50's maybe, and almost all features removed. We have been putting things right where possible over the last 4 years. We have found original blue lies flagstones under the concrete floor, between the flags we found an old flour bag clip, old wiring including lead, rubber, and copper chaulk filled. Under one floor board it was written who installed the 1st electrics and when. We have found lead pipes...still in use. Our latest find is a hand dug, stone lined well which was concreted over. The previous owner lived here for 40 years and never knew it existed. I'm now in the process of emptying it of rubble and other rubbish. So far I've unearthed old fire bricks, lime render and some bottles. 9ft down and only just below water level so more treasure to find yet. I'm very interested to get to the bottom as our house was built in 1847 on the site of a 15th century church house, which later became the poor house.

[Easrow]

Most of our house has been renovated in the past, in the 50's maybe, and almost all features removed. We have been putting things right where possible over the last 4 years. We have found original blue lies flagstones under the concrete floor, between the flags we found an old flour bag clip, old wiring including lead, rubber, and copper chaulk filled. Under one floor board it was written who installed the 1st electrics and when. We have found lead pipes...still in use. Our latest find is a hand dug, stone lined well which was concreted over. The previous owner lived here for 40 years and never knew it existed. I'm now in the process of emptying it of rubble and other rubbish. So far I've unearthed old fire bricks, lime render and some bottles. 9ft down and only just below water level so more treasure to find yet. I'm very interested to get to the bottom as our house was built in 1847 on the site of a 15th century church house, which later became the poor house.

Well today we got down to the bottom of the well. No treasure. Some bricks, bits of flag stone, lime plaster and a big chunk of wood (possibly part of the well once upon a time)
Just for info it is 3.5mtrs deep. The water at the moment sits at about 1mtr deep. The bottom is bowl shaped cut out of the rock. It fills back up pretty quickly once the pump is turned off.

[LadyArowana]

Well today we got down to the bottom of the well. No treasure. Some bricks, bits of flag stone, lime plaster and a big chunk of wood (possibly part of the well once upon a time)
Just for info it is 3.5mtrs deep. The water at the moment sits at about 1mtr deep. The bottom is bowl shaped cut out of the rock. It fills back up pretty quickly once the pump is turned off.

How exciting, I hope you can share some pictures. Any idea what you’re going to do with it? I hoped we might have such undiscovered treasure, but apparently our water supply ( before mains ) was always via cistern and pump elsewhere from our property according to our very knowledgeable senior plumber.

[Cubist]

Not sure if this one fits the term 'interesting' but it was certainly a surprise. Sadly no photos but...

When we came to view Fircroft before the purchase we naturally wanted to take a look around the gardens. Thats another incorrect term actually as the site extends to around three acres crudely bisected by a bridleway and further divided into four fields all of which, barring the formal garden around the house, had been neglected for maybe forty years or more. Heavily overgrown as you might expect with extensive bramble and bracken patches rising to eight feet in height so our 'look around' was more akin to a jungle expedition than a quick sortie through to the flower beds.

We ended the tour under the two Yew trees situated at the back of the house and as I was getting my breath back I happened to look down to see ....a tombstone lying on its back under one of the trees and with, on first glance, the vendors name on it. When I got over my surprise a closer look revealed it to be the stone from the vendors fathers grave.

Despite the appropriate position I'm glad to say the previous owner took it with him when we completed the purchase.

[Feltwell]

Hmm, better than what I found when I googled my name. I have an unusual name, first few hits are all me and to do with work - but then the next one is a picture of a gravestone with my name on it!

My namesake shuffled off his mortal coil in the 80's if I remember rightly. I don't even like the gravestone - it's heart shaped, not very me.

[philpjuk100]

Never tried that, so I've just "Googled" my name and got a pic of Manuel from Fawlty Towers!

[Feltwell]

K?

[LadyArowana]

Despite the appropriate position I'm glad to say the previous owner took it with him when we completed the purchase.

Did he take *everything* with him?

[Cubist]

Despite the appropriate position I'm glad to say the previous owner took it with him when we completed the purchase.

Did he take *everything* with him?

To be honest I decided it was unlikely he'd left the old boys remains and the roots of the Yew tree were rather close to the surface. He did however leave the cats corpse under a rather tasteless terra cotta feline up in the copse - a local fox did that exhumation job for me.