Junior Reporter
Lucy McLean is 10 years old and lives in Lane Cove West. Walking home from school one afternoon she spotted something gleaming in the dirt. What she pieced together over the following week turned out to be more than a century old. This is Lucy’s story, in her own words.
Puzzle Pieces
I was walking home from school one day when I saw something gleaming out of the corner of my eye. I picked it up to get a better look and it was a piece of a tile.
I took it and walked home. When I got home, I put it in some soapy water to clean it off.
The next day when I was walking home from school, I saw more tile pieces and I decided to pick them up. I put them in the soapy water too.
After dinner that night, I decided to see if any of them fit together, and they did!
The next day was the weekend, so in the morning I decided to go out and see if I could find any more pieces, and I found one more.
I had almost fitted all of the pieces together, but I was struggling, and my Mum came over to help. She fitted two pieces together.
And then I had to go out to walk the dog.
When I got back, I took a picture of the half-completed tile and searched it up on Google and, guess what?
That tile is estimated to be from the Victorian era. That means it’s over 100 years old. That’s even older than me.
You might be wondering why I’m telling you this story. I’m telling you because some of you might think that archaeology is boring, and that only lucky people who have studied archaeology their whole life can find stuff, and they have to be in the right place at the right time.
But this tile is proof that anyone can find it. I’m only 10 years old, but I found this piece of tile from 100 years ago. So if you think that you can’t find something old and precious, because you’re just in a small suburb, take a look in your backyard. Maybe you’ll find something that looks like a broken plate or a bit of junk, but maybe it’s history. This is a reminder to never stop believing.
By Lucy Jamilla McLean
Editor’s note
Lucy’s story is published with her mother’s permission and has been lightly edited for punctuation only. The words are entirely her own.
Are you a local kid with a story to tell? In the Cove welcomes junior reporter submissions from Lane Cove students. Get a parent or carer to email us at [email protected].
What is a Victorian encaustic tile?
Decorative floor and wall tiles like the one Lucy found were mass produced in Britain from the mid 1800s and shipped to Australia in large numbers. They turn up regularly in Sydney gardens because they were used in the entry paths, verandahs and hearths of Victorian and Federation era homes, then broken up and buried when those homes were renovated or demolished.
Fragments like Lucy’s are common finds, but they are still a real physical link to the people who lived here before us.
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