A TIME capsule from 1906 has been found by property developers.

Builders converting the old Methodist school on Lower Green Lane, Astley, into a townhouse and apartments spotted it under a ramp at the building.

The capsule, which was presumably lost when the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel was demolished in the 1980s to make way for the school, contains a number of posters and letters as well as pages from The Tyldesley and Atherton Chronicle dated April 13, 1906.

One of the letters states that the special ceremony raised £60, which equates to approximately £6,500 in today’s money, towards the building fund of the church.

Jonathan Grant, group chief executive of developers W Howard Ltd, said: “It is such a fascinating find and we thought this would be of great interest to residents in the area.

“This town has a lot of history and I believe it is very important to preserve that, so we are going to send the items in the time capsule away to see if they can be better restored and then hopefully they can be displayed in some way in the future.”

The capsule also contained a list of trustees’ names and occupations and details of a ‘bachelors and spinsters’ tea party of that raised nine shillings.