Stunning photos have shown the inside of a Victorian pharmacy left untouched and re-discovered 80 years after being boarded up. Now on display to the public, jars containing liquid medicines, weighing scales and a dusty old typewriter used for creating prescriptions and labels can be seen, among other items. The chemist shop, based in Somerset, UK, belonged to William White, who operated the store from 1880 until his death in 1909. It was only discovered after the death of the last of White’s granddaughters, Margaret White, in 1987 – 80 years after it was closed. After Ms White’s death the property, in the village of South Petherton, was sold – which is when the hidden room was found. Before that, the hidden pharmacy room had lain untouched and unknown for decades. White’s son, Charles, couldn’t dispense drugs as he was unqualified, so he decided to close and board up the shop when his father died. When the property was finally sold, 107 years after the White family had bought it, the secret room was revealed. It looked exactly as White had left it when he died, as if it had been frozen in time. When it heard about the amazing discovery, the Cornwall-based theme park, Flambards, decided to take on the difficult task of rescuing the shop, including numbering and charting thousands of artefacts, Metro has reported. JG
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