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What's the oldest thing in your house?

(129 Posts)
Katek Thu 13-Oct-16 12:15:23

Saw this question on FB this morning and thought it could be quite interesting. The oldest items we have are DH's grandmother's silver candlesticks and a silver christening mug from around 1830.

pattie Fri 14-Oct-16 09:48:34

Afraid it's me!

BPJ Fri 14-Oct-16 09:47:09

Apart from me not much

Venus Fri 14-Oct-16 09:46:15

I have a Victorian gaming table which was my paternal grandparent's.

Hilltopgran Fri 14-Oct-16 00:25:44

Yes Lona, very similar. I love mine as well and it has such a wonderful patina build up over the years, I have a drop leaf oak plank dining table as well, really useful when all the family visit.

Judthepud2 Fri 14-Oct-16 00:20:39

We have some Stone Age flint axe heads passed down by DH's grandfather, who was a collector. Most were given to a museum when we moved but we have kept a few good examples. Grandsons very impressed with these.

Nelliemoser Thu 13-Oct-16 22:59:59

Some pieces of Lewisian gneiss rock that is 3 billion+ yrs old.
Not exactly rare in Scotland but very old in Earth age times.

oldgoat Thu 13-Oct-16 20:26:04

We have a Stone-age axe head, given to us when we were on holiday in South Africa. I think it's authentic.

Greenfinch Thu 13-Oct-16 20:22:58

1679. Coins from the reign of Charles 11.

oldgoat Thu 13-Oct-16 20:22:16

elegran
I used to have lots of star-shaped crinoid fragments which I found in dredgings from the River Severn. My cache has been plundered by children and grandchildren..

Luckygirl Thu 13-Oct-16 19:46:14

I have fossils, but otherwise it is my grandmother's grandmother clock!

Elrel Thu 13-Oct-16 19:43:49

My grandfather's Concordance was presented to him by his school, Wolverhampton Royal Orphanage, when he left in the 1880s. My grandmother's little brown jug she told me was her mother's, that might make it earlier than the book but I haven't had it dated.

Elegran Thu 13-Oct-16 19:40:55

oldgoat I have found this picture www.charmouth.org/chcc/rocks-and-fossils/local-fossils/crinoids#!Crinoid_stem Mine is very like the one on the right, though perhaps the ridges are less pronounced. I found it at Whitby.
175 million years old.

GrandmaMoira Thu 13-Oct-16 19:31:13

My house was built 1903 so is quite old. I have a display cabinet made by my great-grandfather which is late 19th century and some dishes from that era.

Elegran Thu 13-Oct-16 19:12:07

I wondered that, oldgoat, but all the photos of crinoids I've seen are cylindrical. This is definitely polygonal (I think hexagonal but my memory could be wrong) I haven't found it yet but when I do I'll post a photo.

grumppa Thu 13-Oct-16 19:11:20

A Roman stylus for writing on wax tablets that a friend picked up while mudlarking on the Thames.

oldgoat Thu 13-Oct-16 19:04:04

elegran
Could your fossil be a crinoid - relations of brittle stars and sea urchins?

CrazyDaisy Thu 13-Oct-16 18:53:36

I have a little statue of Queen Victoria which was my Grandmother's. It has the date 1897 and the words "Original in possession of the Queen" on the back.

Penstemmon Thu 13-Oct-16 18:40:05

other than the house itself which is not that old (1897) probably a set of dominoes and their box made by DH's great-grandad.

durhamjen Thu 13-Oct-16 18:09:18

I have a daguerreotype, which is from about 1850, as that's when they were made.
I know it's from Hull and am hoping that it was made by the female photographer who had a shop near where my great grandmother had her business.

ninathenana Thu 13-Oct-16 18:01:09

A carving knife that was my grandmother's and I think great grandmother's.
It has a horn handle and the blade is worn narrow through being sharpened on the stone back step

gretel Thu 13-Oct-16 17:49:14

We have a 17th Century pickle fork.

cornergran Thu 13-Oct-16 17:21:24

My paternal grandmother's watch, though I don't know for sure how old. The oldest dated things are First World War medals, my fathers Uncle was killed in 1914.

DaphneBroon Thu 13-Oct-16 17:19:22

Has nobody said "The old git" yet? grin

SueDonim Thu 13-Oct-16 17:14:53

I have an ammonite my MIL gave me - I can't recall why she did so!

My dh has a very old leather-covered telescope and a sword(!) that live in the attic. Also the wooden workbox his father made when he joined the RAF in 1925.

I have a special edition newspaper from S Africa circa 1895 and copies of photos from the same era. My mother has the originals. I also have some pieces from a delicate tea service but they are so fragile now that they shatter if you so much as look at them. I think they're late 1800's.

In common usage, I'm still using flannel cot sheets as under-sheets on my GC's beds. They belonged to my niece who is now 45yo! grin

Lona Thu 13-Oct-16 17:06:49

Hilltopgran Is it like this oak chest of mine, dated early 17th century? I love every mark and repair on it, someone really used it well!