Letter dating back to 1890s found in Whitehaven mayor's chair

The team that was tasked with repairing the leather and replacing the worn undersea webbing found a real-life time capsule hidden in the material. 

Tucked away inside the original material of the seat cushion were a couple of short notes from the two men who produced the chair in 1894.

Graham Roberts, of Whitehaven Town Council, said: "I think it's absolutely wonderful, it will obviously take pride of place in our records, and we'll look after it with great care. 

The chair in present day (Image: Whitehaven Town Council)

"That's a piece of history that's appertaining to the town and the civil proceedings around it. 

"It's a great find, historians throughout the ages have wanted things like that and we have it."

Harry M Gilmour of Scotch Street and J Millar of Cross Street were so proud of their work that they left a calling card for a future craftsman to find and while the notes have faded over time, their names, addresses, and the date were legible.

The remains of the letter (Image: Newsquest)

The Council now plans to preserve the shards of paper for the future.