Ardmillan Time Capsule

By an amazing coincidence Ardmillan's 21st century owners have discovered a link with its earliest owner. In October 2006 the new owners, the Lepones, needed to knock a hole through their kitchen wall to accommodate the flue of a newly installed Aga. As the hole was being made, just below the Ardmillan name plaque on the outside , they discovered a hollow with a specially made plinth in it. On the plinth was a large glass bottle , its cork sealed with wax. Inside the bottle they discovered a handwritten note which read:

"This Memorial Stone, Ardmillan of Oswestry, the residence of John Thomas Esq J.P. (Mayor of Oswestry), was laid September 17th 1879. Architect, R. H. Roberts Esq, Heynorth St., Liverpool. Builders, Morris Chaplin and Corvey, Oswestry."

As well as this handwritten note, the outside two pages of the Oswestry Advertizer of the same date were folded and put in the bottle and you can imagine the small ceremony there might have been as John carefully placed the bottle in its special place. What must have gone through his mind at that moment? He was always aware of his ancestry and heritage but knew that one day his generation also would pass into history and he put great emphasis on the legacy they would leave for the future. He must have wondered how far into the future and what kind of world it would be when his sealed bottle was eventually found.

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