Bishop's Square Time Capsule - Spitalfields, London, UK - Time Capsules on Waymarking.com

A plaque made of stainless steel is etched:

This plaque records the burial of a Time Capsule by:
Alderman Robert Finch, The Rt. Hon. the Lord Mayor of London
To commemorate the Bishops Square Project,
a partnership between Hammerson plc,
Spitalfields Development Group
and the Corporation of London
22nd April 2004

During the development of this area the ruins of a charnel house was discovered. This was integrated into the development so that the public could see the ruins. A glass pavement allows the public to look down on to the ruin and steps lead down to a below ground level where a further view of the ruin is given behind glass panels. Information is located giving the history of the area. The time capsule is located under the steps.

The Foster and Partners website tells us about the placing of the capsule and some of its contents:

Press Release 23.04.2004

Yesterday The Rt. Hon, Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman, Robert Finch, set the seal on the Spitalfields development, Bishops Square, designed by Foster and Partners, with the burial of a time capsule containing contemporary items, to add to the rich history of the Spitalfields area.

Bishops Square is being developed by the Spitalfields Development Group, a subsidiary of Hammerson plc and its joint venture partners, The Corporation of London. When completed, the scheme will consist of 70,000 m (760,000 ft) of offices and 4,000 m (45,000 ft) of shops, restaurants, cafes and bars, as well as extensive public spaces. The offices will be occupied by international law firm, Allen & Overy.

Hammerson Development Director, Peter Cole, placed a set of coins of the realm in the capsule to mark the next chapter in Spitalfields long and varied history.

The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Robert Finch, added an original Spitalfields Fruit and Vegetable market Porters Badge, a copy of The Times newspaper and a copy of his monthly schedule.

Lord Foster attended the ceremony and added a small model of the Bishops Square scheme to the capsule. He commented:

Today we are marking the contribution that this project and its public open spaces will make towards the continuing renewal and regeneration of Spitalfields, one of London's most historically important and vibrant neighbourhoods.

No mention can be found as to a date when the capsule will be opened. Like so much of London's historical past it may be unearthed one day by accident and will give that generation an understanding of life at the start of the 21st century.

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