Lifting the lid on history of century-old time capsule
IT lay buried for more than a century. But a glass bottle time capsule sealed in the wall of a demolished Black Country Methodist Church offers a little glimpse of social life in Edwardian times.
Owner Joe Thomas saved the bottle for posterity when he was helping to demolish Graingers Lane Methodist Church in Cradley Heath back in 2006.
The bottle with the name Cannington, Shaw & Co Ltd, St Helens, embossed on its glass lid had offered an airtight environment for several artefacts for over a century until Mr Thomas’s discovery.
The bottle itself is the product of a firm that specialised in beer bottles and fruit jars. Founded in 1875 after Edward Cannington and John Shaw joined forces at the Sherdley Glass Works, the company employed 1,188 workers in 1895.
The lid had cork on its surface creating an airtight effect and was probably used during the early part of the 1875-1892 period.
It turned up in the Black Country possibly as an import of bottled fruit, but it was destined for a far more important use.
Inside was a magnificent poster, produced especially for the stone-laying ceremony on Monday, October 2, 1905, and printed by Chatwin & Forrest, in Cradley Heath.
It would have been posted nearby in the days running up to the ceremony, before being carefully folded and placed in the bottle.
The stone-laying ceremony leaflet was also printed at Chatwin & Forrest and included on the front cover an artist’s impression of how the church would look when completed, and names of VIPs and the times that various events would commence, including the very important “Public Tea in the schoolroom at 5 o’clock – tickets 1/- each”.
A fairly thick copy of The Primitive Methodist Leader had also been squeezed into the bottle and was preserved in wonderful condition.
Also inside was a copy of newspaper for Saturday, September 30, 1905. In the news was the story of the wedding at Lye between Miss Kate Worton and Mr Joseph Goodwin. It read: “More than a little stir was occasioned on Thursday morning by a wedding which, while it was the first to be celebrated in the now very attractive Primitive Methodist Church, had also other features of local interest...Though the morning had been wet and dour, towards noon, the time of the ceremony, the sun broke through the clouds, and though it was but a transitory gleam, added its smile to the festival of love.
“The church was early filled by an expectant crowd of friends, while others gathered in the streets and vicinity of the church to watch the arrival of the wedding party.
“The bride wore a dress trimmed with silk lace and an insertion to match, and an ostrich feather adorned her hat of white chiffon. Her bouquet was a choice of white chrysanthemums, roses and lilies.
“Confetti and rice showered the newly-married pair and a multitude of good wishes met them on the threshold of the church and their new life together.”