Search For Mystery 'Secret Agent' Scribe

Jersey Heritage is trying to track down the person who left a message in a bottle at Elizabeth Castle 58 years ago.

Archaeologists working on the restoration of the castle have discovered a glass bottle concealed in a blocked up fireplace in the Officers' Quarters. 

Inside was a note and two pages from a newspaper. The note reads: '007 James Bond - 26th Feb 1966 - P.S Secret Agent Don't Tell Anybody'.

On the back of the piece of paper is the name E.A. Blampied.

Jersey Heritage wants to know more about the story behind the message.

Initially, it was believed the note's author was the famous artist Edmund Blampied, who died in August of the same year.

However, archaeologists wondered why a 79-year-old would be involved in a restoration project in the 1960s and decided it was most likely not possible.

Harvey Doolan, an archaeologist at Elizabeth Castle, says Jersey Heritage would like anyone who has a clue about who the individual is to get in touch.

"It's quite common to find items like this in blocked-up fireplaces in historic buildings, and it would just be very interesting to find out the story behind the person who put it there."

The works have uncovered many other hidden items, with the message in a bottle being the latest.

They include an 18th-century cribbage board hand-carved into a cattle bone and decorated with a lady in a 'Jane Austen-style outfit'.

Harvey says this woman could have been a lover, a sweetheart or 'lady luck'.

"In some of the other fireplaces, we found cigarette packets dating between 1923 and 1946, and also some ammunition that the Germans 'very kindly' left on the ground floors, which are still live."

Elizabeth Castle's restoration could be finished in early 2025.

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