A FORMER theme park is auctioning nearly 1,500 items including an entire Victorian village - including a ‘time capsule’ pharmacy discovered in Somerset.

Assets from 50 shops in the unique village and Britain and the Blitz exhibits at Flambards are going under the hammer next month after the closure after the popular Cornish attraction.

One of which is the Victorian pharmacy that was uncovered in South Somerset after being boarded up more than 100 years ago.

William White’s Chemist Shop operated from 1880 until his death in 1909 but lay untouched and unknown about for decades.

After almost 50 years, rising costs and falling visitor numbers forced the attraction to shut its doors in November last year.

Lay's Auctioneers have now announced a special sale of its assets which includes the historic shops that have taken visitors back in time for decades.

A spokesperon for the auctioneers said: “The auction will encompass all 50 astonishingly detailed shops in the Victorian Village, the similarly remarkable ‘Britain in the Blitz’ installation, and the surrounding war galleries.

“All the supporting historical displays, including the full-size Concorde and the Avro Shackleton Cockpit."

Lay’s highlighted the "iconic institution" of Flambards and described the Victorian Village as "the jewel in its crown.

The spokesperson added: “Every nook and cranny meticulously curated by its visionary creator, Audrey Hale, to contain exactly the products that shops sold, the clothes people wore, the food they ate, and every other imaginable detail of everyday life in a small English town of the Victorian era.

“The creation of the Victorian Village was a remarkable achievement, and no one who has visited will ever forget it.

Auctioneer Carolin Lay inspects items the victorian pub The Pheasant Inn, which includes a 19th century taxidermy monkey dressed in Ottoman style clothing, before it gets sold next month from Flambards Cornwall. February 20 2025. A former theme park is auctioning nearly 1500 items - including an entire Victorian 'time capsule' village. Assets from 50 shops in the unique village and Britain and the Blitz exhibits at Flambards are going under the hammer next month after the closure after the popular Cornish attraction. After almost 50 years, rising costs and falling visitor numbers forced the attraction to shut its doors in November last year. Lay's Auctioneers have now announced a special sale of its assets which includes the historic shops that have taken visitors back in time for decades. A spokesperon for the auctioneers said: “The auction will encompass all 50 astonishingly detailed shops in the Victorian Village, the similarly remarkable ‘Britain in the Blitz’ installation, and the surrounding war galleries. “All the supporting historical displays, including the full-size Concorde and the Avro Shackleton Cockpit."
Auctioneer Carolin Lay inspects items the victorian pub The Pheasant Inn, which includes a 19th century taxidermy monkey dressed in Ottoman style clothing (William Dax / SWNS)

Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. See SWNS story SWLNpharmacy. A Somerset pharmacy which was boarded up in the early 1900s remains almost exactly the same more than 100 years later - only now, it's in Cornwall. The Victorian time capsule in South Petherton was discovered in the 1980s when the shop's then-owner Margaret White died. The shop had been shut since 1971, when Margaret had decided to close it rather than convert to using decimal coins. When the auctioneer went to have a look around in 1987, they discovered the back half of the shop was entirely sealed off.
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. (Daniel Dayment / SWNS)
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. See SWNS story SWLNpharmacy. A Somerset pharmacy which was boarded up in the early 1900s remains almost exactly the same more than 100 years later - only now, it's in Cornwall. The Victorian time capsule in South Petherton was discovered in the 1980s when the shop's then-owner Margaret White died. The shop had been shut since 1971, when Margaret had decided to close it rather than convert to using decimal coins. When the auctioneer went to have a look around in 1987, they discovered the back half of the shop was entirely sealed off.
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. (Daniel Dayment / SWNS)
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. See SWNS story SWLNpharmacy. A Somerset pharmacy which was boarded up in the early 1900s remains almost exactly the same more than 100 years later - only now, it's in Cornwall. The Victorian time capsule in South Petherton was discovered in the 1980s when the shop's then-owner Margaret White died. The shop had been shut since 1971, when Margaret had decided to close it rather than convert to using decimal coins. When the auctioneer went to have a look around in 1987, they discovered the back half of the shop was entirely sealed off.
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. (Daniel Dayment / SWNS)

“This will be an extraordinary auction; the quality and quantities of fascinating and valuable historic items is breathtaking, but it also presents a unique opportunity not just for collectors but members of the public wishing to acquire memorabilia of this most beloved and iconic place.”

David Lay, director and founder of Lay’s Auctioneers, has been on-site with his team since December, cataloguing all the extraordinary items that will be sold.

He said of the upcoming auction: "The whole is so much greater than the sum of its parts.

"To walk the streets of The Flambards Village is to be transported to a halcyon past, a past created by Audrey Hale using vast quantities of original material which is now so rare as to be akin to hens' teeth.

“Whilst we have all been enriched by the experience of cataloguing this remarkable collection, it has been tinged with sadness that this incredible creation - a whole Victorian town, perfectly realised in full-scale, with every corner, shop, street and building absolutely historically correct, down to the most minute detail - must now be dispersed.

Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. See SWNS story SWLNpharmacy. A Somerset pharmacy which was boarded up in the early 1900s remains almost exactly the same more than 100 years later - only now, it's in Cornwall. The Victorian time capsule in South Petherton was discovered in the 1980s when the shop's then-owner Margaret White died. The shop had been shut since 1971, when Margaret had decided to close it rather than convert to using decimal coins. When the auctioneer went to have a look around in 1987, they discovered the back half of the shop was entirely sealed off.
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. (Daniel Dayment / SWNS)
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. See SWNS story SWLNpharmacy. A Somerset pharmacy which was boarded up in the early 1900s remains almost exactly the same more than 100 years later - only now, it's in Cornwall. The Victorian time capsule in South Petherton was discovered in the 1980s when the shop's then-owner Margaret White died. The shop had been shut since 1971, when Margaret had decided to close it rather than convert to using decimal coins. When the auctioneer went to have a look around in 1987, they discovered the back half of the shop was entirely sealed off.
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. (Daniel Dayment / SWNS)

“However, that is the nature of things, and from this auction, other collections will be improved, (and) new collections will be formed. This collection will be an inspiration."

Assets from the Victorian Village include a 'time capsule' Victorian pharmacy that was uncovered - after being boarded up more than 100 years ago.

William White’s Chemist Shop operated from 1880 until his death in 1909 but lay untouched and unknown about for decades.

His son Charles was unqualified to dispense drugs so boarded up the store when his father died.

The presence of the sealed room was only revealed after the death of the last of William’s granddaughters Margaret White and the sale of the property in South Petherton, Somerset, in 1987.

At the time it had been entombed for 80 years.

And as the 107-year occupancy by the White family came to an end - the locked door was opened to reveal the hidden store, frozen in time, exactly as William had left it.

Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. See SWNS story SWLNpharmacy. A Somerset pharmacy which was boarded up in the early 1900s remains almost exactly the same more than 100 years later - only now, it's in Cornwall. The Victorian time capsule in South Petherton was discovered in the 1980s when the shop's then-owner Margaret White died. The shop had been shut since 1971, when Margaret had decided to close it rather than convert to using decimal coins. When the auctioneer went to have a look around in 1987, they discovered the back half of the shop was entirely sealed off.
W.C.White Victorian Chemist at Flambards, Cornwall. (Daniel Dayment / SWNS)
Auctioneer Carolin Lay prepares the victorian shop Birch, Birch & Co Grocers before it gets sold next month from Flambards Cornwall. February 20 2025. A former theme park is auctioning nearly 1500 items - including an entire Victorian 'time capsule' village. Assets from 50 shops in the unique village and Britain and the Blitz exhibits at Flambards are going under the hammer next month after the closure after the popular Cornish attraction. After almost 50 years, rising costs and falling visitor numbers forced the attraction to shut its doors in November last year. Lay's Auctioneers have now announced a special sale of its assets which includes the historic shops that have taken visitors back in time for decades. A spokesperon for the auctioneers said: “The auction will encompass all 50 astonishingly detailed shops in the Victorian Village, the similarly remarkable ‘Britain in the Blitz’ installation, and the surrounding war galleries. “All the supporting historical displays, including the full-size Concorde and the Avro Shackleton Cockpit."
(William Dax / SWNS)

Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. See SWNS story SWLNpharmacy. A Somerset pharmacy which was boarded up in the early 1900s remains almost exactly the same more than 100 years later - only now, it's in Cornwall. The Victorian time capsule in South Petherton was discovered in the 1980s when the shop's then-owner Margaret White died. The shop had been shut since 1971, when Margaret had decided to close it rather than convert to using decimal coins. When the auctioneer went to have a look around in 1987, they discovered the back half of the shop was entirely sealed off.
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. (Daniel Dayment / SWNS)

Inside the Victorian pharmacy that was uncovered in Somerset, after being boarded up more than 100 years ago and has been kept exactly the same, before it gets sold next month from Flambards Cornwall. February 20 2025. A former theme park is auctioning nearly 1500 items - including an entire Victorian 'time capsule' village. Assets from 50 shops in the unique village and Britain and the Blitz exhibits at Flambards are going under the hammer next month after the closure after the popular Cornish attraction. After almost 50 years, rising costs and falling visitor numbers forced the attraction to shut its doors in November last year. Lay's Auctioneers have now announced a special sale of its assets which includes the historic shops that have taken visitors back in time for decades. A spokesperon for the auctioneers said: “The auction will encompass all 50 astonishingly detailed shops in the Victorian Village, the similarly remarkable ‘Britain in the Blitz’ installation, and the surrounding war galleries. “All the supporting historical displays, including the full-size Concorde and the Avro Shackleton Cockpit."
Inside the W.C.White Victorian Chemist time capsule display at Flambards, Cornwall. (William Dax / SWNS)

Upon hearing of the incredible discovery, Flambards in Cornwall rescued the shop and began a painstaking task of numbering and charting thousands of artefacts.

Flambards subsequently fully rebuilt the store in its new home, and "reassembled every medicine bottle, apothecary jar, quartz carboy, demijohn, and pill dispenser in exactly the same positions they were found in - cobwebs and all."

Also among the village is the Birch, Birch & Co. Georgian III shop and contents which is to be sold in 58 lots.

This includes a shopfront, shop cabinets, advertising panels, fitted shelves, drawers and toleware produce bins, canisters, bottles, displays, stands, and all manner of period shop stock.

This George III shopfront was originally situated in Angel Court, in the City of London, and was one of two shops owned by the Birch family.

A 19th-century Shand Mason & Co Engineers London horse-drawn fire engine, together with Merryweather & Sons London coal cart in 'Cliveden' livery is also up for grabs with a guide price up to £25k.

The contents of Flambards will remain in situ for public viewing between Saturday, March 22 - Monday March 24, 10am-4pm.

The auction will be held globally online and in Lay’s Penzance Salerooms from March 25 to 27, starting at 10am.