A TIME capsule which was buried at Redgrave Theatre in the 1970s has been retrieved by Waverley Borough Council (WBC) with thanks to the Herald.

The sealed capsule is now in the main safe at WBC and will be returned to Farnham Theatre Association (FTA) directors in a meeting with Julia Potts, leader of the council, and Tom Horwood, WBC CEO, on June 4.

The burial was reported in the Friday, September 15, 1972 edition of the Farnham Herald featuring the below picture, captioned: “Watched with great interest, Sir Michael Redgrave prepares to bury the steel cylinder in the foundations.”

Sir Michael Redgrave was keen to promote regional theatres and so gave his family name to the theatre.

Anne Cooper, FTA chairman, said: “This was a time of great excitement in Farnham as it was the first step in achieving the town’s vision of having a purpose-built regional theatre of its own.

“The recovery of the time capsule is very significant for FTA as the capsule’s burial demonstrated that the theatre was built to last and to serve future generations.”

June Hodgson, FTA member and assistant appeal organiser for the building of the theatre whose late husband, Stuart, had sealed the capsule before it was buried, reported that inside were a Castle Theatre programme, a copy of the Farnham Repertory Theatre Trust’s minutes, photographs, one of the (then) items of currency and some papers from the Farnham Herald.

Anne said: “In 2012, FTA learnt that the demolition of the Redgrave Theatre could be imminent and we asked WBC if the time capsule could be recovered to join the archives held by FTA.”

Julia Potts was portfolio holder for leisure, culture and young people in 2013 when she met with Anne and the FTA board to discuss the time capsule buried in the former theatre. She assured FTA it would be recovered and “six years later when we repeated our request, as Waverley leader she kept her word”.

Miss Potts said: “The group were clearly concerned about the time capsule and its fate when the theatre was demolished for the Brightwells regeneration scheme. At the time I promised to do all I could to ensure the safe retrieval of the time capsule. It has been the subject of many discussions over the years with Crest (the developer) and Waverley. I have always been clear that we needed to do all possible to locate the time capsule.”

With works due to start onsite, Julia was still keen to locate the exact spot of the time capsule. During the annual town meeting in March, FTA’s Abigail McKern also enlisted the support of the now former Mayor of Farnham, Mike Hodge.

Miss Potts continued: “In mid April myself and some council officers visited the former theatre and looked to see if there were any visible clues as to its location, ie a plaque. We had the photo supplied by the Herald of Sir Michael Redgrave burying the time capsule in 1972, but trying in a dark, partially derelict and dangerous building to put that into context was a very challenging task.”

The first step of the stalls was recognised as being similar, and Julia requested the borough engineer bring in specialists to investigate further. In the following weeks, specialist contractors carefully drilled exploratory areas and the time capsule was safely located.

Once returned, the FTA’s “intention is to place it with the remaining archive material in Farnham”, and they “would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the public to help us find a secure future for Farnham’s two theatres archives”.

? The Herald’s ‘Letters’ page also featured a letter from Anne Cooper last week regarding a planning application for a non material amendment (NMA) to Crest Nicholson’s time schedule for the Brightwells works.

She pointed out that the Redgrave Theatre is attached to the Grade II Listed Brightwell House and that Crest Nicholson “must also realise that it would collapse after the demolition, if it is left without supporting walls on its north and west sides”. She asked “is this really what is intended?”.

Mrs Cooper added this week: “The people of Farnham, who went on to raise so much money for the theatre’s creation, feel they are now sadly being betrayed by the very organisations which gave their support to the project throughout its successful years.”