Last week, just as the rain conveniently stopped, a special burial ceremony began on Rotherfield’s Millennium Green. It was a ceremony that will be repeated in 50 years time but then in reverse, when on the 24th March 2065 a Time Capsule will be unearthed.
Key Stage 2 pupils from Rotherfield Primary School were gathered around a deep, newly dug hole to watch as Chairman of the Green’s Trustees, Michael White, oversaw the burying of the capsule. With his wooden mallet he firmly hammered home the capsule lid and then helped, as two of the children lowered the container into its resting place.
The event was the final outcome of a project coordinated by Lifewisdom, a local charity entitled “Meadows of the Weald”. With the help of local residents, Kipling Class at the primary school and the Trustees of the Green had together studied the history of the local fields and their place in village life. It was the idea of the children to bury a Time Capsule and it was they, who enthusiastically filled it with bits and pieces that had personal meaning for themselves.
The ceremony ended with Mr White flexing his muscles and placing a hefty slab over the tomb. “Be sure to keep 24th March 2065 free in your diaries”, he told the admiring pupils.
