A grade II listed house was left ‘frozen in time’ after it was abandoned when its owners died.
Urban explorers came across the crumbling six-bed property which is full of old newspapers, magazines, family photos and bottles of spirits amassed over decades. Despite evidence the house in Wigan was lived in as recently as 2017, the décor and furnishings appear to be a time capsule from a much earlier decade.
A 1970s-style square TV features in the living room, while the carpet and wallpaper appear unchanged for years. Urban explorers, known only as Andrew and Courtney, both 23, came across the house over the weekend as part of their hobby of exploring fascinating abandoned buildings.
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They believe the house, which appears to have been extended from a four-bed to a six-bed, belonged to a married couple who lived into their 90s. The house has remained untouched ever since.
Courtney said: “We worked out the house has been abandoned since 2017, that was the last year on the calendar in the house. The last date marked off was February 15.
“There was a lot still in the house, like cleaning products, drinks, the garden was really overgrown and the house was really big.”
Among the hundreds of artefacts are old national service papers, family photos and birthday cards celebrating a 90th birthday.
There were also two bottles of Babycham and a number of bottles of rum. Courtney, who first took up the hobby during lockdown in 2020, said she is fascinated by learning about the past of a house and the lives of its inhabitants.
But she said exploring the house was tinged with sadness at the thought of all the years the couple had spent together.
She said: "It’s quite sad to see, you walk into the living room and you realise it’s somebody’s family home and it was just left like that one day and never touched again and it’s stayed that way ever since.
“It’s like a time capsule, it’s just frozen in time. A lot of the features in the house are from a long time ago, I think a lot of older people didn’t renovate very often, so it looks even older. They would have said on their wedding day ‘til death do us part’ and death did part them.”
Courtney and Andrew often share their amazing discoveries on social media as @urbexcoupleac.
* REMINDER: Individuals are not encouraged to enter private and derelict premises under any circumstances for their own safety.
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