Stumbling upon a 173-year-old time capsule is like something out of a sci-fi dream. The rare find was discovered earlier this year at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Singapore’s oldest Catholic church, along with a granite foundation stone.
It’s possibly the oldest time capsule found in the country, comprising newspapers and a prayer booklet from 1843, as well as 24 coins and tokens from 18th and 19th century Vietnam, Britain, France and Spain, reported The Straits Times. It was unearthed on January 29 in a shoe box-sized pit, which was located under a column base on granite steps along the Victoria Street entrance, sealed by the foundation stone.
As one of the largest and most impressive buildings of its time, the Queen Street church was erected about 24 years since Singapore’s founding, then given the status of a cathedral in 1888, and declared a national monument in 1973.
The church plans to restore the artefacts and display them in the cathedral’s new heritage gallery when the place reopens in February next year, after the $38 million restoration project is completed.
