By Mal Butler
A time capsule, dating back to the 1970s, has been dug up at the former Yarmouth Primary School.
The premises of the school, which moved into its new home in Freshwater in December 2022, has been bought by The Yarmouth Community Foundation, and will be turned into a Maritime Museum when it transfers its premises from Arreton Barns.
Izzy Turtle, museum supervisor of the Shipwreck Centre, at Arreton, said: “We first caught wind of there being a time capsule hidden somewhere on-site in the summer; however we asked around to staff, ex-pupils, and neighbours, and couldn’t reach any consensus on where exactly it was, or what it contained.
“We eventually whittled down a couple of locations, and found it buried in a planter under an overgrown buddleia beneath the original Victorian ‘National Schools, 1855′ plaque.
“Upon opening it, we found that three different generations of people had buried, found, and re-buried the time capsule.
“The earliest was a cache of Victorian coins hidden behind the original plaque, which was found in the 1970s when the plaque was moved due to building work, it was reburied with a commemorative 1977 five-pound coin.
“This capsule was found again in 2000, by Dave Lowe, the son of the man who originally buried it in the ’70s. It was then reburied with a commemorative 2000 five-pound coin, along with a newspaper article about the reburying.
“Two more articles celebrating the Millennium, and a handwritten note from the Headmistress at the time, the late Sandy Toms, who passed away recently.
“Having now been found again by two of our volunteers, in another 25-year increment, we will be adding our own commemorative 2025 coin in line with past tradition, as well as some memories from other volunteers who have been involved across both the sites’ time, as a school and in its new era as a centre and museum for maritime archaeology.”
Isle of Wight Observer