A COUPLE have unearthed a series of treasures at a house which dates from the days immediately after the English Civil War.

Rachel and Kevin Bailey discovered the artefacts during the restoration of their home in Norton, near Stockton, which was built in 1650.

Their latest discoveries include a Cromwellian coin or token found behind a beam in the front room.

They also found a Victorian shilling from the 1850s which had been placed in a brick, possibly as a good luck charm.

Other finds during the restoration have included a Saxon bead in the garden and part of the track of Norton's steam tram line, which operated between 1888 and 1897.

The Baileys also uncovered a photograph taken when the tram was running.

One of their most charming discoveries was a fingerprint of a child, embedded in a brick in the fireplace which possibly dates to the 1650.

Historian Bob Harbron, of Norton, who has inspected the once-thatched house, said: "It looks like a child has been messing about in the brickworks and stuck his finger in the brick."

Mrs Bailey, a teacher, grew up next door to the house and the couple hope to open part of the building as a gift shop.

She said: "Whenever we do any work, we keep finding more things but also the house, which has been renovated and added to, keeps revealing itself.

"We keep exposing beams and little nooks and crannies. It's lovely."

Mr Bailey said a number of other treasures had been discovered in the house by previous owners over the decades.

The building was The Wheatsheaf pub between the 1850s and 1900, when it became Elcote Sweet Shop for more than 60 years.

Many villagers still refer to the house as the sweet shop and the Baileys plan to sell old-style sweets.

The house was built the year after Charles I was beheaded by Cromwell.

One of the signatories on the King's death warrant was Sir John Blakeston, of Norton, who lived at the long-demolished Blakeston Hall, about half a mile away.

His father and brother were put to the sword in Newcastle for supporting the King.