Time capsule unearthed at the site of former hospital

A TIME capsule buried under the Kent and Sussex Hospital 80 years ago has been unearthed by workmen.

"This solves a mystery," said delighted hospital archivist John Weeks.

"People have always talked about a memory box which was stowed away on the site. My fear was that it would be lost or destroyed during the redevelopment."

The small wooden box containing old copies of the Courier and other newspapers was carefully placed in concrete beneath the foundation stone laid by the Queen Mother, then Duchess of York, in July 1932.

Mr Weeks said: "The box has split and some damp has got in. The newspapers have survived pretty well, but annual reports from the old hospitals which the Kent and Sussex replaced have disintegrated into dust."

The foundation stone, laid two years before the hospital opened in 1934, was being carefully lifted in preparation for removal to the new Tunbridge Wells Hospital when workers noticed a metal plate underneath. When it was removed, they discovered the small wooden box, the size of a modern box file, below.

Mr Weeks, who is working on a history of the Kent and Sussex and Pembury hospitals, said: "There were copies of the Courier, the old Tunbridge Wells Advertiser and The Times from that week and, pushed in beside them probably as an afterthought, was the Courier's full report the following week."

Along with many pictures of the duchess, already a favourite with the crowds, are reports from Britain's overseas empire, stories of disorder in Germany and news of air raid precautions being planned at home.

The Kent and Sussex Hospital in Mount Ephraim closed in September when the last of its services were relocated to the new Tunbridge Wells Hospital. The old foundation stone, along with plaques, statues and other artworks from the old hospitals, has been put into storage pending reinstatement in Pembury.