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What's the oldest thing in your house?

(128 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.

Elegran Thu 13-Oct-16 12:33:34

Somewhere I have a very worn old penny with one of the esrlier Georges on it. No idea where.

vampirequeen Thu 13-Oct-16 12:35:12

A small gilt clock made in around 1890.

vampirequeen Thu 13-Oct-16 12:37:02

No scratch the clock. We go fossil hunting at Whitby and have a small collection of ammonites dating back millions of years.

granjura Thu 13-Oct-16 12:43:22

Probably the house itself, at least the base walls and foundations, dating 1587. The roof burnt in 1663.

granjura Thu 13-Oct-16 12:44:03

In the house itself, probably the Neuchâtel clock dating 1775.

Wobblybits Thu 13-Oct-16 13:22:14

Me, apart from that our Ercol dining table & chairs which were a wedding present.

whitewave Thu 13-Oct-16 13:25:59

Cups and saucers belonging to my paternal two grandmothers are pretty ancient.

annodomini Thu 13-Oct-16 13:32:07

A Georgian bow-fronted mahogany chest of drawers. It came from a rectory where 7 generations of my ancestors were hereditary rectors. It's a great repository for all my clutter - apologies to my reverend forebears!

Lisalou Thu 13-Oct-16 13:34:59

Refectory table circa 1660, my father and grandparents were antique dealers. Old junk? We have.

nanaK54 Thu 13-Oct-16 13:35:07

A Victorian jug that I bought from a sale. I think it's beautiful, my family think I'm nuts!

Charleygirl Thu 13-Oct-16 13:39:15

Me

Elegran Thu 13-Oct-16 13:43:11

Oooh vampirequeen. I have an ammonite from Whitby too, found not bought, buying fossils doesn't count. (I've another strange fossil that I couldn't identify. When I find it I'll take a pic and post it and maybe you will recognise it. Looks like a bit of plant stem, about an inch long and hexagonal.)

Maranta Thu 13-Oct-16 13:52:29

I have an old gate legged table, parts of which apparently date back to the late 1600s. It's had its top and a leg replaced, but still has the original small drawer at one end.

Greyduster Thu 13-Oct-16 13:53:55

I'd like to see that elegran. I have an ammonite too but we found it at Lyme Regis. Apart from that, and DH, the oldest thing in our house is a Victorian silver cream jug - not an heirloom; just something we picked up on our travels because I thought it was pretty.

merlotgran Thu 13-Oct-16 13:57:38

A George IV bushel hod - we keep logs in it.

A piece of bog yew, approx 3000 years old (or more)Makes a good door stop!

alicebandit2 Thu 13-Oct-16 14:08:00

Apart from a few (bought!) fossils I have a lovely little ring type fastener made from bronze, I think, with an integral pin across the centre and a design of oak leaves. I was told it probably came from the 1500s, and had been found in a field in Oxfordshire. I could imagine it being used as a fastening on a young girl's garment. When I showed it to my sister and mentioned it could have been made around the time of the Great Plague, she muttered 'better wash my hands before lunch then!' But she had been a primary school teacher...

Stansgran Thu 13-Oct-16 14:27:56

My father collected crowns(5 shillings not things on heads) and I think i have them back to Charles I. Must have a look again.

rosesarered Thu 13-Oct-16 15:12:18

DH!

starbird Thu 13-Oct-16 15:29:41

My father's WW1 medals - he married late in life so was the same age as most people's grandfather.

yggdrasil Thu 13-Oct-16 15:39:15

Iv'e got an trilobite fossil I found. Beats ammonites grin

grannyactivist Thu 13-Oct-16 15:51:33

I too have an ammonite I picked up off the beach just along the coast from Lyme Regis and I also have a calcite geode that must be pretty old.

From slightly more recent times I have a tea set that belonged to my husband's grandmother and was inherited I believe from her grandmother, so I'd guess it's about 120-150 years old or thereabouts.

NotTooOld Thu 13-Oct-16 16:14:23

Blimey - so much old stuff. We should have a Gransnet Road Show. Where are you Fiona?

hildajenniJ Thu 13-Oct-16 16:25:58

I have a small tea bowl from the Nanking cargo. It left China in 1750, and was auctioned in Amsterdam in 1985. I used to have a very fine ammonite, found at Forest Head shale quarry when I was a schoolgirl. I lent it to an exhibition and they never returned it!

NotTooOld Thu 13-Oct-16 16:35:18

That's terrible, Hilda.

I have a pair of nutcrackers made by my whitesmith great grandfather at the end of his apprenticeship. Unfortunately they don't work and I'm not sure of the date.