Antiques Roadshow guest stunned by value of Winston Churchill's items

Antiques Roadshow guest stunned by eye-watering value of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill’s belongings he found at THE DUMP

An Antiques Roadshow guest was astounded by the value of some of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill’s belongings after he found them at the dump.

Show expert Mark Smith was delighted to see the items during Sunday’s episode, which included a black top hat, a glasses case, letters from his staff and a photograph of the wartime Prime Minister who served 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955.

The guest made the surprise revelation he discovered the items at the dump, where he had worked for 15 years.

Expert Mark said: ‘You turned up today with a very big box and this is only a fraction of what was in that box. I said to you, “Where did you get this from?” What did you say?’

The guest replied: ‘From the dump,’ adding that he had worked there for 15 years and he was allowed to ‘pull out whatever I like’.

Shock: An Antiques Roadshow guest was astounded by the value of some of former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill’s belongings after he found them at the dump 

Antiques: The items included a black top hat, a glasses case, letters from his staff and a photograph of the wartime Prime Minister

He went on to say he had three sheds full of antiques he had found at the refuse site.

Mark continued: ‘So we took out some of the stuff and you said, “I’ve got this hat, I’ve got this and this,” What was the story you then told me?’

The guest said: ‘I’ve got loads of letters, over 200 letters from this same load and it was from a mother to her son.

‘The mother used to work for Winston Churchill, she was a cook and the husband was a butler for Winston Churchill as well.

‘She used to write to her son every day about the daily goings of Winston Churchill, what he was getting up to and how he was feeling and just interesting stuff about him.’

Mark said: ‘Then amongst all of that are these mementos of Winston. This one here, is that the lady? So a signed photo from Winston to her, the cook.’

In the letters, details of the gifts the mother was given by Sir Winston were written after the late politician shared out his belongings amongst his staff.

Referring to the items, Mark said: ‘We’ve got this cigar. Winston was known for those obviously, a cigar case, a signed photo and the pièce de résistance, I have to say, Winston’s hat.’

Part of history: Show expert Mark Smith (second right) was delighted to see the items during Sunday’s episode

Looking back: Sir Winston Churchill (pictured) served from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War and again from 1951 to 1955

Discovery: The guest said he found the items at the dump where had worked for 15 years and was allowed to take anything he liked home

He continued: ‘You’ve caused me a bit of a problem because if you’d come to me with all of this stuff and said, “I’ve been buying this over the years and I buy it from auctions and all of that sort of stuff,” I would have thought to myself, well, very likely it’s not real.

‘But I’ve seen all those letters from that lady to her son. Daily letters saying this is what Winston is doing today and this is during wartime as well. So she is sending home all sorts of information which corroborates all of the things you’ve got and it’s not just these bits here.’

Giving his valuation, Mark concluded: ‘So, we had a think about this. I think that your box. Remind me where you got it from again? The dump. We think that your box is worth £10,000.’

Antiques Roadshow continues on BBC One next Sunday at 8pm. 

Big money: Giving his valuation, Mark concluded: ‘We think that your box is worth £10,000,’ leaving the guest stunned

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