200-year-old cobalt mine 'time capsule' discovered in UK

Leather shoes, clay pipes, a metal button from a jacket, crockery and mining machinery were among the objects found. An inscription written on a cave wall in candle soot reads "WS, 20th August 1810", which is around the time the mine is thought to have been abandoned.

One of the largest items found was a windlass, which was a piece of equipment used to shift large weights or quantities of raw materials. The abandonment of a valuable piece of machinery suggests the miners were instructed to halt operations abruptly, perhaps because the cobalt had been exhausted.

In the 19th Century cobalt was mainly used to make blue pigment for glass, pottery, jewelry and paint. Prior to the Napoleonic Wars, which ran from 1803-1815, cobalt was mainly imported into the UK from continental Europe, where the resource was plentiful.