Eerie pharmacy found behind door that was last locked in 1909 | UK News

Stunning photos show 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, 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 Mr 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 room lay untouched and unknown about for decades.

Mr 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 Mr 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.

It has since transported everything to a new home and has reassembled the whole shop exactly as it was found.

The theme park said it has ‘reassembled every medicine bottle, apothecary jar, quartz carboy, demijohn, and pill dispenser in exactly the same positions they were found in – cobwebs and all.’

A spokesperson said: ‘After examining the contents of the store, it was discovered that William White, though primarily a chemist, also dealt to some degree in groceries – especially teas and tobacco, wines and spirits.

‘Not at all unusual in a village environment in Victorian times.’

The contents of the shop were put up for sale separately to the property – and Flambards decided to buy the contents.

While the theme park was able to take most of it, the Home Office did have to confiscate some items as they contained dangerous poisons and compounds.

Now visitors can see a number of fascinating items from the Victorian chemist’s on display, including a mysterious white storage box on a shelf covered in cobwebs and boxes of herbs, which would have been used for medicines.

There is also the jars of liquid medicines and the dusty typewriter, used for labelling and prescriptions.

As the shop was also a grocery store, the photos also show old red boxes containing oxo stock cubes and other brands you might recognise (and even still use today).

Alcohol is also lining the shelves, including Spey Royal Whisky, highlighting how it was often used for medical purposes in Victorian times.

Earlier this year, a Victorian hospital once used as a Hitler Youth headquarters was uncovered, while an abandoned labyrinth hidden under a skyscraper palace belonging to Stalin was also found.

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