Oxburgh Estate Profile picture
Aug 27, 2021 9 tweets 4 min read Read on X
It's that time again...#FindsFriday! It is week five of our #DebrisDiary as sifting continues, and volunteers have been focusing on bags of debris from the attics which run east from the gatehouse. These attics have an intriguing history.
@NatTrustArch Image
Tree-ring dating of timbers in this area indicates that they were felled between 1551 and 1579. This period of Elizabeth I’s reign was particularly dangerous for Catholics like the Bedingfelds; not the most obvious time for them to have been investing in home improvements.
It has long been suggested that there was a secret chapel in the house, so perhaps this phase of work relates to the covert creation of a discreet place of worship on the top floor of the house. One which was quick dash away from the priest hole. 📷RedZebra Image
The discovery of a little bone key fob labelled ‘Sacristy old chapel’ in debris from the easternmost attic is quite exciting. The chapel in the grounds of Oxburgh was finished in 1836, and could reasonably be considered to be the ‘new chapel’ for quite some time afterwards. Image
This little key fob raises questions about where the ‘old chapel’ was. Could this be evidence that this attic was indeed used as a chapel, and was called the ‘old chapel’ after the chapel in the grounds was built?
Last year we found a lovely woven collar/cuff which we think is mid-C16th in date. This week a volunteer found another piece of woven textile, with a diamond pattern. Photos have been sent to the weaver in Portugal who identified last year’s piece as being of significance. Image
Towards the end of the week this black wax seal came out of the debris. It appears to have an anchor impression stamped onto it and is sat on a piece of black-edged paper. More research is certainly needed but it looks like it could be an admiralty death notice. Image
Finally we have these shards of ceramic. Look closely and you can see some historic methods of repair! Image
As ever, thank you to curator Anna Forrest for these fascinating insights into the finds. Thank you also to @DCMS @HeritageFundUK @wolfsonfdn for supporting our #RaisetheRoof project.

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More from @OxburghEstateNT

Sep 3, 2021
It's #FindsFriday time with week six of our #DebrisDiary. A few interesting finds have emerged out of the dust this week, thanks to the eagle eyes of our volunteers and staff. @NatTrustArch 📷Nicholas Farka Image
First up we have this curious bell, found under the floorboards of what would have been servant accommodation. Maybe it was part of Oxburgh’s staff bell system. It is metal and the button still moves when pressed…although we doubt anyone is receiving anything now. Image
Next up we have this delicate little black ribbon and a collection of beads and buttons. Which add to the narrative that these attic spaces were being used as a sewing room. One or two have nice big windows so maybe the abundance of light made it the perfect needlework space. ImageImage
Read 6 tweets
Aug 20, 2021
Good morning on this lovely #FindsFriday! It is week four of our #DebrisDiary as we continue to sift through the rubble taken from beneath the attic floors. @NatTrustArch Image
First up is a bit of an odd find; a chocolate wrapper of some sort. Last year we actually found a mostly complete (sans chocolate) Terry’s Gold Leaf box hidden beneath the floorboards. We wonder if this wrapper may have come from that! Image
Dating from the 1940s and produced under the rationing restrictions of WW2, perhaps these chocolates were ‘contraband’. Clearly whoever ate them didn’t want anyone else to know about them so hid the evidence. Photo by @mjc_associates Image
Read 6 tweets
Aug 13, 2021
#DebrisDiary time! Week three of sifting debris from beneath the attic floors has revealed some items which differ from those previously found by volunteers working on this project. @NatTrustArch Image
A delicate glass button, which survived intact despite being both being dropped and hoovered up, was a lovely clean, clear contrast to the brown dust it was found in. Image
A volunteer also found a tiny piece of gilded, carved wood which could have dropped from a picture frame or piece of furniture. Image
Read 6 tweets
Aug 6, 2021
#DebrisDiary time! Week two of sifting debris from beneath the attic floors has turned up some more interesting items for #FindsFriday. So what did we find between 1st and 4th August?
@NatTrustArch Image
This week's debris were taken from the Wallpaper and Tank Attics, the finds found in each room are quite different. This tray shows a typical selection of small objects found in one sifting session from the Wallpaper Attic, which give us an impression of how that room was used. Image
We have found pins, lead shot, textiles, lovely coloured-glass beads, and some tiny pieces of newspaper, printed books and hand-written documents. We don’t currently have a date for the beads, but we still find ourselves trying to imagine the dresses they might have adorned. Image
Read 9 tweets
Jul 30, 2021
The first week of sifting debris from under the floors has already yielded some fascinating finds! We will be posting a debris diary here every #FindsFriday to keep you up to date on what we unearth. So what did we find between 26th and 28th July? @NatTrustArch Image
The bags we sorted this week were all from the ‘Wallpaper Attic’. Last year we found a lot of evidence which pointed to this room being used as a place for sewing, mending and the storage of documents over a long period. The tiny items discovered add further to this narrative. Image
Many more pins were retrieved, a still-threaded needle, buttons, lumps of sealing wax, fragments of textile and a piece of paper through which had been pricked a design that would have been ‘pounced’ with chalk onto fabric for embroidery. Image
Read 10 tweets

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