Secrets come to surface after fatal fire which killed three people

A team of archaeologists have said they are gradually "piecing together" the building's "story"

Secrets have emerged after a fatal fire killed three people over a century ago. According to recent archaeological findings, the remnants of an old university building in Aberystwyth has been uncovered nearly 140 years after a fire tragically claimed three lives, BBC News Wales reports.

Amidst a major restoration project of Aberystwyth's Grade I listed Old College building, charred wood, blackened walls and laboratory equipment have been discovered. The ambitious £43m renovation aims to breathe a new lease of life into the structure. There are plans to establish a hub for education, heritage, culture and business at the site, as well as a four-star hotel.

Recently however, a group of archaeologists have delved deep into the building's basement, where they have unearthed signs of the fateful fire which began within the building's chemistry lab. On July 8, 1885, three men died in the flames: James Edwin Brett, who was 21 and lived with his mother, Samuel Jones, who was married with two children, and John Davies, who was married with six children.

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The Old College was home to various academic departments, a library, museum and living quarters. On the night of the fire, local people who had helped raise the money to set up the university in 1872, went into the burning building to try to save valuables, according to one expert.

It is believed that the fire had started on the fifth floor of the building, and was triggered by explosions of oxygen cylinders within the lab. An investigation was soon carried out to find the cause of the fire and the report concluded that the "cause of the fire was spontaneous combustion amongst the cotton waste used in cleaning up after the chemical experiments in the laboratory department".

Elgan Davies, who worked as a librarian at the Old College, has written about the building's history. He said: "Efforts were made to save treasures from the library and the museum and those were brought out. But there was still three people inside fighting the fire in the museum when the floor gave way. They fell through to the floor below, and were terribly burned and died."

It has been reported that the men had no direct link with the university. However, their actions on that fateful day were appreciated immensely at the time. Their funerals were attended by local dignitaries and more than 2,000 people.

Faye Thompson, who is the collections co-ordinator for the Old College project, said that their bravery was still appreciated today. She said: "[Their bravery] enabled us to save the entirety of the library collections, and a lot of the museum pieces too. We have some pieces now in our collection that we can display again because they survived the fire due to the efforts of these men and others as well."

Recently, parts of burnt wood, alongside a battered Bunsen burner, a petite stove and several glass bottles have been retrieved from the debris. According to Jessica Domiczew, a member of the Welsh archaeology trust Heneb who are working on the excavation, her team are gradually "piecing together" the building's "story". For the latest Welsh news delivered to your inbox sign up to our newsletter

Archaelogists began working on the site after building contractors found objects had been hidden in the rubble. According to Jessica, the excavation was an "exciting project".

"Throughout the excavation we've had a few pieces of wood which [are] quite heavily burned, dotted throughout the gallery. There's a very good chance that it's connected to the fire [but] we don't have any real other explanation of where it's from," she told the BBC. "It's very exciting as an archaeologist - we don't really get so many well-intact artefacts like this."

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