‘He was so excited’: painter discovers 122-year-old message in a bottle inside lighthouse walls | Tasmania

A painter in Tasmania, more than 120 years ago, revealed a sealed glass bottle with a message hidden in the wall gap of the historic Cape Bru Lighthouse.

According to Anita Waghorn, Historical Heritage Manager of Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service, an expert painter Brian Burford was routine care in the coastal structure when the discovery took place.

“While working in the lantern room, which is the room at the top of the lens and lighting mechanism, while dealing with a little rust and corrosion, he entered the wall gap,” he said.

Then something in the void caught the eye of Burford, “shining” in the light.

“He called me and said he found a message in the bottle, Wag said Waghorn.

It turned out that the letter was not only a simple note, but an envelope containing two -handed pages that detail the upgrades made to the lighthouse in 1903.

About 70 years after the construction of the original structure in 1838, a staircase, floor, lantern room and lens were added to the lantern on the heritage list.

Note was signed by Lighthouse inspector by the Hobart Naval Board Jr Meech, who controls the construction and maintenance of several well -known lighthouse, including Cape Sorell, Maatsuyker Island, Tasman Island, Table Cape and Mersey Bluff in Tasmania.

“It was incredibly exciting… It was a mystery when it first came to the inaccessible place in the tower,” Waghorn said.

But it wasn’t an easy success. Waghorn, who was initially reluctant to open the bottle, received help from the Conservatorys at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, which carefully removed the sensitive old paper.

“The bottle is covered with a mushroom covered with a bitumen, which made it difficult to remove, Cob

“We should have worked carefully around the mushroom to remove the lice from the top of the mushroom and then to separate it from the glass as the mushroom bitument was soaked.”

“The next challenge was to remove the message from the bottle. The bottle was folded in a way that makes it very difficult to get it without damaging the narrow neck of the bottle.”

The team took a few days to decipher Meech’s message.

The museum staff plans to exhibit the letter for public viewing.