A WATER bottle with a jagged bullet hole through it captures a moment in time when its owner was wounded in trenches during the First World War.

After recovering in Blighty, Captain Bertie Cecil Baty of the Durham Light Infantry was sent back to the front, only to be killed in action on the Somme, on September 16, 1917.

The poignant relic of the trenches is part of a fascinating trove of memorabilia discovered stashed away in the loft of the historic home of Cpt Baty's neice Vervia Todd in Church Street, Houghton-le-Spring, on Wearside.

Miss Todd’s fiance was killed during the Second World War and she never married after her loss, living with her dental surgeon father, Sam until he died.

Miss Todd died aged 92, in November 2012, in the house she was born in. Her home made national headlines after an Aladdin’s cave of dresses, hats and shoes worth £100,000 was uncovered.

It had been thought all the antiques and items of vintage clothing, which went on to be sold, had been found.

But her best friend Sheila Ellis, one of the executors of the will, discovered much more in the loft of the 12-room house.

Boxes containing a rare 1913 German propaganda poster, war-time copies of newspapers, postcards sent from the trenches, war time rations and cooking equipment were collected by Miss Todd’s father, who served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the both world wars.

Mrs Ellis said: ‘It’s a big house and it has taken a year to get through it.

“We finally made our way to the old servants’ quarters in the attic and started uncovering all of this.

"There we found piles of boxes containing war memorabilia.

“We thought it would be nice to have an exhibition to coincide with the sale of the second lot of clothes we found, to give people the opportunity to see these things.”

The water bottle belonged to Miss Todd’s mother’s brother.

Mss Elllis said: ‘I think Vervia would be chuffed to bits and thoroughly enjoying the display.

“She’s been painted as a Miss Havisham figure, but nothing could be further from the truth.

“The house was always full of people and she was a very gregarious person.”

The doors of the house are open to the public by appointment with some slots left for tomorrow (Friday, March 14) and Saturday. It will then be closed until Thursday. To arrange a viewing call Mrs Ellis on 07891 512777.