WHITEHAVEN's historic mayor's chair has thrown up a surprise for the furniture restorers.
The team that was tasked with repairing the leather and replacing the worn undersea webbing found a real-life time capsule hidden in the material.
Tucked away inside the original material of the seat cushion were a couple of short notes from the two men who produced the chair in 1894.
Graham Roberts, of Whitehaven Town Council, said: "I think it's absolutely wonderful, it will obviously take pride of place in our records, and we'll look after it with great care.
"That's a piece of history that's appertaining to the town and the civil proceedings around it.
"It's a great find, historians throughout the ages have wanted things like that and we have it."
Harry M Gilmour of Scotch Street and J Millar of Cross Street were so proud of their work that they left a calling card for a future craftsman to find and while the notes have faded over time, their names, addresses, and the date were legible.
The Council now plans to preserve the shards of paper for the future.
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