A BOTTLE that’s thought to be more than 100 years old has washed up on the Welsh coast in almost pristine condition.

It was discovered in the Severn Estuary during low tide by Martin Morgan, who is the secretary of the Black Rock Lave Net Fishermen.

The bottle was then cleaned up to reveal the markings ‘H. L. Williams, Newport, Monmouthshire’ - unfortunately there wasn't a message inside. 

Little is known about who H. L. Williams was, but an excerpt from the Monmouthshire Merlin newspaper in 1878 described Mr Williams’ business as an “Aerated Water Manufacturer”.

South Wales Argus: Lave net fisherman Martin Morgan found the bottle thought to be more than 100 years old. (Picture: Martin Morgan)Lave net fisherman Martin Morgan found the bottle thought to be more than 100 years old. (Picture: Martin Morgan)

Mr Morgan said: “We don’t find many old ones like these, especially in such good condition – but it’s incredibly rare that we find a bottle like this in one piece.

“I was out collecting a bit of bait when I spotted the bottle. It still had the stopper in it.

“My first thought was that it’ had to be more than 100 years old - it must've been sitting in the estuary for a long time. I took it back to clean it up and found that the bottle had the markings ‘Newport, Mon’ on it – so it’s a great piece of history from the area.

“We’ll definitely be keeping hold of it!”

The Black Rock Lave Net Fishermen practice a traditional method of catching fish, which dates back from the 1700s, and have been operating for more than 100 years.