The startling discovery was made at St Nicholas’ Church, Liverpool (Picture:BBC)

A trap door at a Liverpool church has been discovered to lead to a ‘time capsule’ room, full of books and toys from the 1930s and 1940s.

The discovery was made by Rev Dr Crispin Palling, the rector of St Nicholas’, the official Anglican Church of Liverpool, who had previously heard rumours of the room’s existence.

The rumours proved to be true when Reverend Palling ventured through the trap door in the church’s ceiling and discovered toys such as a model Spitfire, vintage hot chocolate packaging, and a wooden car, all of which dated back to the Second World War.

A vintage model of a Spitfire was among the toys discovered in the secret room (Picture: BBC)

It is believed that the room was previously used as a play area, but was sealed off before the church was bombed in World War Two, and was left sealed upon post-war reconstruction of the building.




Speaking to the BBC, Reverend Palling said that he attributed the discovery to natural curiosity.

He added: ‘When you see a hole in the ceiling, I think you’ve got to go through it and find out what’s on the other side, and that’s what I wanted to do here’.

‘I’d heard a little bit about a time capsule being up here, but hardly anyone has been up here in 70 years’.

A classic toy train was also discovered (Picture: BBC)

Other items found in the room include a prayer book from the Great War, and perhaps most remarkably, a book entitled ‘annotations on the holy bible’ which dates back to 1696.

It is now hoped that the room can be converted back to its previous state, while the artefacts will be donated to a local museum.