Antiques Roadshow guest gobsmacked at value of Churchill items found in dump
An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned after they took items they found at a dump to get valued.
Expert Mark Smith was on hand to give his expertise to items on Sunday's show, when a guest made the surprise revelation he found some of Sir Winston Churchill's belongings in a dump.
The items included a black top hat, a glasses case, letters from staff and a photograph of the former Prime Minister. Viewers only managed to see a small look at the many items the guest had collected from working at a dump, yet were not disappointed.
Antiques expert Mark admitted if the relics were from an auction he would have thought they were fakes. But, as the items were accompanied by letters confirming a link to Churchill, he valued the box of goods at a whopping £10,000.
"You turned up today with a very big box and this is only a fraction of what was in that box. I said to you, 'Where did you get this from?' What did you say?," expert Mark asked.
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The items included a top hat, glasses case, letters and photo (BBC)The guest replied: "From the dump," explaining he had worked there for 15 years and he was allowed to "pull out whatever I like", leaving him with three sheds full of antiques.
Mark then asked the guest to explain the story behind the items he took in to get valued. The guest said: "I've got loads of letters, over 200 letters from this same load and it was from a mother to her son.
"The mother used to work for Winston Churchill, she was a cook and the husband was a butler for Winston Churchill as well. She used to write to her son every day about the daily goings of Winston Churchill, what he was getting up to and how he was feeling and just interesting stuff about him."
Mark added: "Then amongst all of that are these momentos of Winston. This one here, is that the lady? So a signed photo from Winston to her, the cook."
A hat from the late Prime Minister was included in the bundle (PA)In the letters, the mother detailed the gifts she and other staff were given after Sir Winston shared out his belongings. Referring to the items, Mark said: "We've got this cigar. Winston was known for those obviously, a cigar case, a signed photo and the pièce de résistance, I have to say; Winston's hat.
"You've caused me a bit of a problem because if you'd come to me with all of this stuff and said, 'I've been buying this over the years and I buy it from auctions and all of that sort of stuff,' I would have thought to myself, well, very likely it's not real.
"But I've seen all those letters from that lady to her son. Daily letters saying 'this is what Winston is doing today and this is during wartime as well'. So she is sending home all sorts of information which corroborates all of the things you've got and it's not just these bits here."
As he gave his valuation, Mark concluded: "So, we had a think about this. I think that your box. Remind me where you got it from again? The dump. We think that your box is worth £10,000." The crowd gasped as the valuation was revealed, as the guest added: "Oh my god."
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