Many people dream of finding treasures and long-lost relics that will reveal the secrets of the past. They are ready to do much for the sake of these treasures - they travel to the most distant countries and buy the most complex search equipment. But sometimes the most interesting objects are in our homes, hiding for decades and centuries under the floorboards we walk on every day.
Demon Traps at Knowle Castle
The English king James I (1566-1625) was so interested in witchcraft that he eventually issued a harsh law, according to which certain types of magic were punishable by death. In 2014, British archaeologists discovered at Knowle Castle a curious relic from the time of King James - signs carved into the beams under the floorboards. These signs were used to contain the forces of evil and scare away demons.
Researchers believe that the signs were made to protect King James himself from evil spirits, since it was planned that he would visit the castle in 1606. The owners set traps for demons in advance under the floor near fireplaces, windows and doors - places most beloved by the forces of evil. However, the king did not visit the castle and was unable to appreciate the efforts of Knowle's owners.
Secret stairs to the loft of a mad woman
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In Charlotte Brontë's acclaimed novel Jane Eyre, the protagonist's crazy wife was hidden in the attic from the rest of the estate. It is interesting that this image appeared for a reason. The writer once visited the Norton Conyers estate in North Yorkshire, where she heard the legend of a crazy woman named Mad Mary, who was locked from prying eyes in the attic. It was this legend and this attic that were later reflected in Bronte's novel.
However, the owners of Norton Conyers "lost" the attic and the stairs to it over the years. It wasn't until 2004 that homeowners finally rediscovered the loss. One day, one of them decided to find a treasure in the castle and began to knock on the walls and floors in search of voids. Indeed, it turned out that in one place there is a void under the floor. When the boards were removed, a staircase leading to the attic was revealed under them. Apparently, during some repairs, the stairs were boarded up as unnecessary. The owners renovated the staircase and the attic, and now tourists can visit the mad lady's hideout.
Wrecked ship of the Royal Navy
In 1995, at the historic docks of Chatham, southeast England, workers made a startling discovery. They found nearly 200 wrecks of an old ship under the floor. For many years, researchers could not identify the ship, but in 2012 experts found out that it was HMS Namur - a 90-gun British battleship of the 2nd rank, launched in 1756.
The HMS Namur was an important British ship that served for nearly 50 years, notably during the Seven Years' War in the mid-1700s. The Namur was even used as a flagship at the Battle of Lagos in 1759, which greatly weakened France's chances of invading the British Isles. This victory was one of many during the triumphant "Year of Miracles" that helped Britain become ruler of the seas. Several decades after the end of the war, the ship's timbers were used to floor the Chatham Docks, where they lay for nearly 200 years.
Ancient ritual bath in Jerusalem
While renovating a house in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem neighborhood, builders accidentally punched a hole in the floor and made an opening. It turned out that under the floor there is an ancient ritual bath or mikvah, which is used for a ritual of purification after desecration, for example, touching a dead person or dead animals. Later, scientists found out that this bath is 2,000 years old.
Unique stone vessels and pottery used by bathers were discovered next to the bath. This discovery proved important to Israeli archaeologists, as it proves the existence of a Jewish community near Ein Kerem in the first century BC.
World War II documents
The Ballmer Lawn Hotel in Brockenhurst, England, was built as a hunting lodge in the early 19th century. During World War II, it housed the army headquarters, and after the end of the war, the building was converted into a hotel. During renovations in 2015, a bag of World War II documents was found under the floor.
The documents belong to different categories: some discuss the organizational issues of the soldiers' service and life, others contain secret codes. Some of the documents are harmless papers, for example, invitations for officers to a concert in a variety show. Most notable is the Normandy Landing Document. It discusses the problems of installing and protecting telephone cables for Allied troops.
The owner of the hotel said that he had previously found ammunition in his hotel, but did not know that such a valuable treasure was literally underfoot. The papers are in poor condition, but the hotel owner plans to restore them and show them to the guests.
Secret rooms hidden from rebellious workers
John Heathcote is an English inventor who created lace-making machines. In the early 1800s, he signed a contract with the Loughborough plant to install, tune and debug these machines. And only in 2006, during the renovation of the plant building, a small "production" secret was discovered. It turned out that there are secret rooms under the floor, connected by a tunnel.
These rooms were intended as safe havens for Heathcote and the owners of the factory should the workers riot suddenly. The rooms themselves are very small and shabby, but they were very important then due to the popularity of the Luddite movement at that time. The Luddites opposed the Industrial Revolution and called for the destruction of factory machines to make room for workers. It is known that in 1816 the Loughborough plant was attacked and the Luddites destroyed about 50 Heathcot machines. The inventor himself, apparently, sat in a secret room.
Sir Shackleton's whiskey
In 2007, several crates of whiskey were discovered in Antarctica under the floorboards of the hut where the famous British explorer Ernest Shackleton lived during his expedition to the South Pole in 1907. The crates have been safely hidden in the Antarctic ice for more than a hundred years, and therefore the whiskey has retained all its taste.
It is curious that the company that examined the contents of the bottles later released a copy of Shackleton's whiskey, which is now being successfully sold for large sums - everyone wants to feel like a real conqueror of the pole.
George Washington Wallpaper
Visitors to museum houses at different times see different interiors of their idols, as their homes have to be constantly updated and renovated. However, in May 2016, guests of George Washington's Mount Vernon home were able to see his home as it was in the 18th century. After a recent renovation, pieces of wallpaper pasted during his lifetime were found under the floorboards in the first president's bedroom. Based on these pieces, the restorers made a similar wallpaper and returned the Washington bedroom to its original appearance.
$ 300,000 Gold Powder
In 2012, the American company Clark & Rush began operating in a home in Sacramento, California, upgrading the home's heating and air conditioning systems. The owners of the house paid the firm $ 6,500 for the work, but their profits turned out to be several times higher. While installing the heating system, workers discovered an amazing treasure of gold powder hidden under the floor. It is not known who and when hid this gold, but under the floorboards were kept a dozen jars of precious contents. The find is estimated at $ 300,000.
The largest Viking treasure
Around 870, a wealthy Viking covered up treasures under the floorboards of his home on the Swedish island of Gotland. The house collapsed, but the treasure remained. More than a thousand years later, a modest farmer in his field accidentally discovered one coin, and then, after a purposeful search, another 150 coins buried by an ancient Viking.
But the farmer did not stop there, and throughout the year he carefully examined his possessions, finding more and more new treasures. It is now the largest Viking treasure ever found. It contains thousands of silver coins, dozens of silver bars, bracelets, rings, necklaces and over 20 kg of bronze items. The treasure is estimated at more than $ 500,000.
Interestingly, the practice of hiding money under the floor was not uncommon in Gotland. The island was rich enough, but there were no banks on it. Therefore, many families hid their wealth in secret places, and sometimes, these treasures were forgotten for hundreds and thousands of years.
N. Trubinovskaya