Builders working on the site of a former Spanish and Portuguese synagogue made a strange discovery: a time capsule languishing in a wall cavity for nearly 150 years.

The sealed glass jar filled with newspapers, synagogue documents and a handful of coins was hidden next to the Manchester Jewish Museum’s surviving ark. 

The rare find caused “a lot of excitement”, recalled the site manager Adam Brown, 37, who said it was “quite remarkable” the jar came out intact given the nature of the work. 

He also said the team felt “privileged” to have made the discovery and curious about the jar's contents and its backstory. 

“You’re one of the first people to touch something that has been there for that long,” he said. “We’re wondering who had to put it there in the first place, if there’s any record of that.” 

The memento dating back to the 1870s will be exhibited in the museum’s permanent collection chronicling the lives of Manchester Jews through the ages. 

The Grade II*-listed building, erected in 1874 and now closed for a major renovation project, is the oldest surviving shul building in Manchester. 

The building, which saw many of its congregants move out of the local area in the 1970s, later reopened as a museum in 1984. 

Thanks to a £2.9 million National Lottery grant, the museum is expected to reopen next spring with a new gallery, learning studio, shop and cafe. The existing historic building is also being repaired and restored.

The museum’s chief executive Max Dunbar said the team was “thrilled and overwhelmed” by the discovery. 

“This timely discovery comes at an apt and symbolic period when millions of Jewish people around the world prepare for the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement, a reflective and thoughtful time of year when many observers look backwards as a means to move forwards,” he said