A time capsule which was found in the walls of a former synagogue has revealed its 150-year-old treasures.

Builders found the glass container while working on a £6m upgrade of the Grade II-listed building which houses Manchester Jewish Museum in 2020.

The jar, which was sealed on 11 June 1873, contained copies of The Times and The Jewish Chronicle and coins.

Eugenie Karen, conservation officer at Manchester Central Library, said the items’ condition was “remarkably good”.

The building in Cheetham Hill, which was designed by architect Edward Salomons, first opened as the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in 1874.

A museum representative said it was originally built to serve Manchester’s Sephardi Jewish communities and was “designed and decorated to reflect the Spanish and Portuguese heritage” of the people that worshipped there.

In 1984, it was converted into Manchester Jewish Museum to “preserve both the building and Manchester’s rich Jewish history”, they added.

The recent refurbishment saw the museum double in size and included the creation of a new gallery to house more than 31,000 artefacts.

The time capsule was found with its original wax seal intact hidden deep in a wall cavern next to the Ark, which houses the Torah.

It was opened ahead of a series of events which will mark the building’s 150th anniversary in 2024 and was found to be filled with coins, synagogue documents and newspapers.

Ms Karen said despite dating back to the 1870s, most of the documents required only careful handling and very little restoration.

“The paper objects were in remarkably good condition, given their age and where they had been stored,” she said.

“I only had to undertake light repairs to strengthen and consolidate the manuscript where mould had weakened some areas.”

She added that as long as they were now “properly stored”, the documents would “survive for years to come”.