Inside time capsule found under floorboards of Swindon house

Madeline Goodwin, 26, had lived in her Victorian Swindon home for four years when a chance meeting revealed that it contained a unique secret. 

Under its floorboards, there was a metal box containing a penny from 1901, a cigarette packet, a hat, a bible and a letter.

Madeline finding a time capsule in her home that had been there for 130 years (Image: SWNS)She discovered the capsule after advertising a table she was selling - and the woman who came to buy it revealed she used to live in the same house.

The lady said her family had lived there since the 1890s - and for over a century, different people had added to a time capsule under the floors.

She had added a DVD and a newspaper when they sold the house in 2007.

Madeline now plans to add to the time capsule for future owners of the home to discover.

She said: "I gave the woman our postcode and she said she used to live on the street, so I gave her our specific address and she said she used to live in our house!

The 130 year-old time capsule (Image: SWNS)

"When she came to collect the table, she told us about the history of the house.

"The property had been in her family for 130 years from when it was built in 1890 until it was sold.

"Since we bought the property four years ago, there has been lots of renovation work, so we were showing the lady these around the home"

"That's when she told us about the time capsule her family had left in the foundations of the building underneath the floorboards.

"She was very elusive and wanted us to find it ourselves.

Madeline and her partner immediately got to work and as instructed pulled up the third floorboard within the cupboard underneath the stairs.

They discovered an old metal tin container, opened it up and found a penny from 1901, a cigarette packet, a hat, a bible which the lady said had belonged to her family, a letter, a newspaper from 2007 and a DVD.

An old coin found inside the time capsule (Image: SWNS)"There were such random things and it was quite weird because the day the lady came last week was also four years to the day my partner and I had moved into the house.

"What are the chances? It was so strange that it all aligned."

Madeline and her partner now plan to add to the capsule themselves and are potentially planning to move it into a new container to help preserve everything.