Nigel Blackamore, senior curator of Brecknock Museum and Art Gallery, recently discovered an old bottle with a fascinating back story during the building works currently taking place at the museum - while an almost identical bottle was recently donated to the museum.

He said: “I have been recording the building works on site since the project started. During an early visit I spotted a distinctive green glass beer bottle within the remains of a small vault, beneath the cells of the Old Police Station."

The bottle, missing its top, had been sealed into the foundations of the cells during its construction.

“We think the top was deliberately smashed off, so that the marble – used as a stopper – could be taken out,” Nigel added. “The bottle is marked on the front Eagle Brewery Co Brecon, and on the rear Powell & Ricketts Bristol.”

The Eagle Brewery operated in the Watton in the late 19th and early 20th century. It was shown on the 1904 Ordnance Survey map, but was closed before the premises were auctioned, on the 29th August 1919.

The sale notice in the Brecon County Times described it as “very Valuable Freehold Premises and Dwelling House attached thereto, formerly known as ‘The Eagle Brewery’, situate in the Watton.” This included a large storeroom, a four-storey tower, offices, stables, and a partly covered yard. The property was bought by the West Breconshire Farmers’ Co-Operative Society for £1,700, and later known as Eagle Stores.

The building is still known as Eagle House, and is currently occupied by a carpet shop and hairdressers. The four-storey tower was at the back of the site, and will be familiar to readers as Dan-y-Gaer Mill. Its datestone tells us it was built in 1892.

The company Powell & Ricketts was a glass manufacturing company in Bristol. The city was well-known for its glass industry in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Powell & Ricketts was the last Bristol glass manufacturer to close, in the early 1920s.

“The style of bottle is a Codd-neck, with a unique closing design used for fizzy drinks”, enthused Helen. “This was invented by Hiram Codd in 1873 so these bottles had been around a while by the time the Old Police Station was built in 1896 – but the marble was probably still highly-prized when the bottle was buried in the foundations!”

“Extraordinarily”, added Nigel, “just a month after this bottle surfaced, a lady donated an identical bottle to the museum. This second bottle is complete with marble. The lady’s husband had dug it up in their garden many years previously and they kept it on a windowsill so the light would shine through it.”

“If any readers know anything about the Eagle Brewery, or have a bottle, we’d be delighted to hear from them on 01874 624121.”