Marlborough town seal returned after more than 50 years

The seal was taken home by a former mayor for safe-keeping.

A town seal used to stamp official documents has turned up, decades after it was lost.

Marlborough's seal vanished more than 50 years ago when a former mayor took it home for safe-keeping.

The seal is made from solid silver with a wooden handle and the stamp itself bears the coat of arms of the town.

Nigel Kerton, who returned the seal, told BBC Radio Wiltshire "it was used for a couple of hundred years at least."

He added: "It's about the size of a pepper mill that you'd have on your dining table - it isn't a huge thing - and it fits in a specially-made beautiful mahogany box.

The seal bares the Marlborough coat of arms

Mr Kerton was a journalist for more than four decades and remembers the seal from his time working for the Gazette and Herald.

"I've been around long enough that when I went to my early meetings in the late 1960s, the seal was still used," he said.

"The first thing they did at the town council was use the seal to approve the minutes of the last meeting.

"And then... it disappeared and I don't think anyone really realised it was gone."

He continued: "I had a phone call to say a guy I know was in possession of the seal and it had been passed down to him."

Mr Kerton brought the seal back to Marlborough Town Council and gave it to the town's mayor, Councillor Lisa Farrell

Mr Kerton's friend brought the seal to him, and agreed it should go back to Marlborough Town Council.

It was presented to the town's mayor, Councillor Lisa Farrell.