Object of the week: The milk churns that rewrote film history

These three humble milk churns were a gateway to a lost world. 

They were discovered in 1994 in a Blackburn basement, stuffed with hundreds of rolls of 35mm nitrate film dating from 1899 to 1913. The films, made by partners Sagar Mitchell and James Kenyon, offer something close to time travel: a journey into Edwardian Britain.

The films’ custodian, Peter Worden, donated them to the BFI National Archive in 2000, beginning a five-year project of restoration and research. With skill and ingenuity, BFI archivists reproduced superb image quality from the original negatives.

The project rewrote the story of early film, revealing a thriving early 20th century industry of local, non-fiction filmmaking. Mitchell and Kenyon toured northern and central England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, making films for travelling showmen, who would invite paying punters to ‘see yourself as others see you’.

A BBC series, cinema screenings and DVD releases brought the films to national attention while, in 2011, the films were added to the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register, affording the collection a protected status that recognised its international significance. Today, the whole collection (some 28 hours) is available for free on BFI Player for the UK public to enjoy.

And what of the milk churns? These sit proudly, just inside the entrance to the John Paul Getty Jr Conservation Centre in Berkhamsted, having recently been restored themselves. There they live as a precious reminder of how the most spectacular discoveries can appear in the most unexpected of places.

Produced with the support of the BFI Screen Heritage Fund, awarding National Lottery funding.