A 200-year-old sword has been discovered in the lake at Chiddingstone Castle in Kent. The weapon was found last Thursday after hot weather caused water levels to plummet, exposing it.
Chiddingstone Castle curator Naomi Collick said the sword could be a Victorian bandsman's sword from the early 1800s. Its curved blade is chipped and rusted, and it has a gilded, possibly brass, hilt featuring a lion.
Ms Collick noted that the sword is too delicate to hold and that its presence in the lake could date from the 1800s onwards. Theories regarding its origin include it belonging to former castle owner Dennis Eyre Bower, troops stationed there during World War Two, or the Stratfield family who lived at the castle in the 1800s.