A CARPENTER carrying out restoration work to an outside privy at the National Trust s Peckover House in Wisbech got more than he bargained for when his near miss led to a surprise discovery. Carpenter Shaun Allen had been busy putting a new floor into the

A CARPENTER carrying out restoration work to an outside privy at the National Trust's Peckover House in Wisbech got more than he bargained for when his near miss led to a surprise discovery.

Carpenter Shaun Allen had been busy putting a new floor into the old privy at Peckover House and whilst digging out the area in preparation for levelling the floor, he had a lucky escape. He narrowly missing falling down into a hole that had appeared where there had once been a chute.

"It was thought that this was once a 'bucket and chuck it' privy," said Ben Rickett House Manager at Peckover. "However, this obviously wasn't the case, much to Shaun's surprise when he discovered the chute."

Regional Archaeologist Angus Wainwright was brought in to climb down into the hole to see if he could solve the mystery of where the chute led to and whether it linked to the river, just a few metres away.

Mr Rickett added: " Numerous items from the curious to the downright potty were found down the hole. There were old glass bottles with unidentified liquids, substantial pieces of 19th century china, a pudding basin, green glass beads, a Victorian fire bucket, carefully selected tropical shells, a toasting fork (not something you want to sit on!), an alabaster statue albeit with its head and foot missing, an Edwardian hand cream jar complete with cream, plus an unfinished crossword from an old newspaper to name just a few."

Mr Allen added: "My son Fynn was helping me for the day and discovered many of the objects as we cleaned out the area."

n Peckover is holding a open day on June 15 from 1pm to 4.30pm when doors, drawers, cupboards and rooms not normally open to the public will all be on show - including the privy.