Inside house frozen in time for nearly 40 years with sheet music set up on piano

20 June 2023 , 21:50
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An old piano with broken keys sits inside the property (Image: mediadrumimages / Adam Corkill)
An old piano with broken keys sits inside the property (Image: mediadrumimages / Adam Corkill)

Incredible photographs show a home frozen in time from nearly 40 years ago, with sheet music still set up at an abandoned piano now covered in dust.

The house, located a few miles from St Ives, Cornwall, was discovered by an urban explorer who took haunting images to document the life of the man who once called it home.

In one room of the house belonging to a man believed to be called David a dusty old piano stands waiting to once again play music.

Next to it sits a faded black and white photograph of four young men posing with their musical instruments.

In the kitchen, frayed curtains frame a broken window partially covered in ivy and the floor is so blackened with mould it has started to rot and collapse.

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Inside house frozen in time for nearly 40 years with sheet music set up on pianoThe home was discovered near St Ives, Cornwall (mediadrumimages / Adam Corkill)

A model boat perched on a mantelpiece appeared to be in good condition but it is covered in paint chips from the disintegrating wall.

Nearby, the clock has stopped at 13 minutes past 12 and, above it, a remarkably undamaged calendar on the wall displayed the month of December in 1986.

Inside house frozen in time for nearly 40 years with sheet music set up on pianoPiles of old electrical equipment in the house (mediadrumimages / Adam Corkill)

An old tape cassette and a box of dominoes offered another fascinating glimpse at what life was once like in the remote cottage.

Adam Corkill, 40, a hotel reservationist from Paignton, Devon, said he discovered the name of the home's owner after finding a birthday card amongst the jumble of personal belongings.

Inside house frozen in time for nearly 40 years with sheet music set up on pianoAn old hi-fi, long past its best (mediadrumimages / Adam Corkill)

He said: “As soon as a name is attached to a house, the feelings and atmosphere intensifies, and you feel a sense of the memories of the past, and what has been before.

"You wonder if these are the only surviving documents of this family's life, or why any surviving relatives wouldn't have collected them."

Inside house frozen in time for nearly 40 years with sheet music set up on pianoThe kitchen has rotted after decades of water damage. (mediadrumimages / Adam Corkill)

"On exploring the rooms, it became obvious David was a huge collector, and examiner, of electrical items.

"It's like he wanted to know the inner workings of them, modify them and give them new life. VCRs, gramophones, television sets all lay with their innards on display, in various states of repair."

Adam said the old piano had "gone through a half restoration but seemingly not finished enough to hold a note".

Inside house frozen in time for nearly 40 years with sheet music set up on pianoAn old toy boat next to the 1986 calendar (mediadrumimages / Adam Corkill)

He added: "David obviously was working through so many different projects, and that exact moment he left the house, the projects were destined to never be finished.

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"In years, decades, the site will be found, bought and demolished with the items still inside, not a passing thought of the history therein. Many people see Urban Explorers as trouble, vandals, attention-seekers.

"But for someone like David, I would guess with a large amount of hope, that before his partial and finished projects are destroyed forever, he would see that we are there to document, and not to publicise our work, but to publicise his."

Antony Clements-Thrower

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