THREE needlework students have carefully conserved a 300-year-old funeral pall used to cover the coffins of women living in the Corsham Almshouses.
The pall was discovered by Corsham Court owner James Methuen Campbell in his attic.
Anne Aust, trustee of the Lady Margaret Hungerford Charity, which manages the almshouses, said: "It is quite an extraordinary discovery. It was all wrapped up and folded away."
The pall is one large piece of material with the dates 1670 and 1811 embroidered on it.
Mrs Aust approached three women from the Royal College of Needlework after seeing their exhibition in a Corsham church.
The students spent two days delicately working on the pall and carefully repairing the threads.
It is now being displayed in the exhibition room at the almshouses.
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