Archaeologists discover 19th century pub full of untouched bottles of brandy

The Week ^ | September 27th, 2016 | Jeva Lange

[Mariner]

Archaeologists have uncovered a forgotten 200-year-old pub beneath the city of Manchester, England. And the best part? It still has full, untouched bottles of brandy inside, The Independent reports.

Archaeologists discovered the underground pub — once known as the Astley Arms — when they were brought in to inspect the site of a future skyscraper. During the excavation, they found pottery belonging to Thomas Evans, who was the landlord of Astley Arms in 1821. "It's brilliant because you can suddenly connect it to the local people in the area. We looked online about [Evans'] family history and one of his descendants now lives in Texas," said the site's archeological supervisor, Aidan Turner.

[NoCmpromiz]

I’ve been in a few like that..

(One thing can be said for being sober for thirtyish years - I don’t find myself in such environs anymore.. ;-)

[naturalman1975]

Which governs in England?

I know it's a joke, but the answer is actually somewhat interesting. Because of the amount of potential archaeological discoveries that can be made in a country like England, the laws actually consider these issues in detail.

In this case, the owner of the property would have the right to the found material, as it does not fit the legal definition of 'treasure'.

If a found object is found to be treasure (in essence, to be treasure it needs to be at least 300 years old and substantially made of gold or silver, or prehistoric and substantially made of any metal) a person is required to offer it for sale to a museum at a value set by a government committee - they get to keep that money if it sells. If it doesn't sell, they can keep the object. The government cannot just take it (although with an object of major historical importance, the British Museum or some similar body would probably be the buyer after the committee set the price).

[FourtySeven]

LOL