Signature from 1924 found under staircase

A signature dating back more than 100 years has been discovered on a wooden floorboard at an Elizabethan mansion near Lincoln.

Glen Settle and Elliott Kirman were repairing a historic staircase at Doddington Hall when they found the wood containing the signature of Charles Markham, a carpenter who worked on the floor in 1924.

After the hall posted about the find on social media, Steve Rowley, 60, responded to say he was Markham's great grandson.

"I think it's great and brings him back to life a bit," Rowley said.

Markham was born in 1874 and worked as carpenter and joiner at the hall.

"Apparently he had a habit of signing things he had worked on so there might be quite a few of his signatures around Doddington Hall," Rowley said.

The hall was completed in 1600. In 1830, Colonel George Jarvis inherited the house from Sarah Gunman, heiress to the property, and the present owners are direct descendents of his.

During the winter season, the estate's resident joiners were making improvements to the main staircase and discovered the floorboard by chance.

Settle, who has worked at Doddington for two years, said: "It was really lovely to find this. There's something quite nice about being attached to the past and knowing this person."

The floorboard had also been signed by workmen in 1979 and 2013 and Settle and Kirman signed it before completing their work.

"If someone found our signature that would be quite fun," Settle said.

The team at Doddington Hall are preparing for a free exhibition on the mansion's history, through a display of archive photographs and objects.

The exhibition traces how the Doddington estate and the wider village evolved, from the development of its buildings to the lives of the people who worked there.

It is due to be held between 4 February and 27 March in the Stable Yard Gallery at Doddington Hall and will be open between Wednesdays and Sundays.

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