Staff at Castell Coch in Cardiff have opened a cupboard for the first time in decades, discovering a “time capsule” of items from the 1950s. Duty manager James Bishop opened the cupboard on Sunday while reorganising keys and carrying out inventory checks, after one of the keys, which had never worked on any cupboard before, finally turned.
James and head custodian Cori-Lee Blackman told WalesOnline that items found inside include toothbrushes, toothpaste, a newspaper clipping from 1955, and various jars. They believe the items were either used for personal care or housekeeping.
Why the cupboard could not be opened before
James said: “I tried the particular cupboard and it worked so we opened the door and to our surprise there was stuff inside.” Cori-Lee explained that the cupboard had never been able to be opened before, and suggested a few reasons why it opened this time.
“Firstly the heatwave. The castle is a lot hotter, a lot drier. [In recent years] we’ve had a new heating system and, if you’re local, the cupboard is in the tower which has been covered in scaffolding. Not only has it had an extra wrap, an extra layer, it’s also had conservation work and the humidity has improved,” she said.
Items mirror today's castle routines
Describing what was found, James said staff are working on assumption so far because nothing has yet been touched or moved for closer inspection. “There was a newspaper article that dates back to July 1955. There is what one of our volunteers assumes might be toothpaste in a metal tin that you can see in the front of the picture. There are also a couple of toothbrushes. It almost perfectly mirrors what we do here today. What could be stored in this cupboard are items used for doing a shutdown mirroring what we do to this day.”
“When we close in January we go around meticulously with toothbrushes and things like that dusting furniture and furnishings,” he added. Cori-Lee said the items included an empty bottle of what would have been turpentine, a fluid made from tree sap used as a natural cleaner and thinner for oil paints, varnishes, and wax polishes. “It’s either some kind of personal grooming stash or it’s for housekeeping and cleaning,” she said.
Excitement and plans for the cupboard
James said he was “incredibly excited” on opening the cupboard. “I think the reaction we’ve seen on social media says it all. We usually get about 40 likes but this got about 2,000,” he said. Cori-Lee added: “I’ve been here for 17 years and to think you can still find things – even if they’re not priceless jewels – after all that time is really exciting.”
Cori-Lee said they intend to keep the cupboard as it is while a plan is firmed up, and that due to the building’s history approval will need to be sought before anything is changed. “It would be lovely if we could cover it somehow so that people can see it the way we saw it,” she said. “But anything we do is subject to approvals from the right people.”
She noted that the Victorian cupboards outline the medieval ovens: “It’s not just Victorian up there – it’s quite interesting that our Victorian cupboards are outlining the medieval ovens. The castle is Victorian, rebuilt on top of a medieval castle. The kitchen tower, which is the one we are talking about, is the one that had the tallest remains left before it was rebuilt by Lord Bute and William Burges in the late 1800s.”
She added: “Lord Bute and his architect William Burges made the Victorian kitchen area in this place because it was identified as the medieval kitchen area. Having three large fireplaces which would have been used as ovens in one room would suggest it was the kitchen. They left these spaces in the walls, put cupboard doors on them, to be used as such and show where the fireplace recesses are in the medieval remains. Coch’s cupboards may not always be just a cupboard and are still giving us surprises today it seems.”
