A dilapidated Victorian corkscrew has sold for £40,000 at an auction at Reeman Dansie Auctioneers in Essex, England. The corkscrew, made from parts dismantled from the old London Bridge in 1831, sold for nearly 100 times its asking price

It is reported that the bottle opener is engraved with the words "taken from the iron cast base of the bridge, the foundation of the London Bridge in 656 years", and the maker is Evanston (72 Great Titchfield Street), London (72 Great Titchfield Street). Ovenston). However, this carefully preserved corkscrew is no longer working. "The ratchet and spring of this corkscrew are not very flexible," a note to it in the auction catalogue reads. In the end, an anonymous European collector bought the corkscrew, with parts dating back 800 years, and Lehman D'West's asking price was just £400-£600. Auctioneer John Benson of Lehman Dancy said: "The results of this auction were very unexpected and when the hammer finally fell, there was thunderous applause."

The Old London Bridge was built in 1176 and completed in the early thirteenth century. At that time, under the rule of King Henry II, Britain became the center of wool trading in all of Europe, and the cost of building the Old London Bridge came from the wool tax levied. The bridge stood until 1831, when it was replaced by the New London Bridge. The current London Bridge was built between 1967 and 1972 and has undergone four repairs so far.