Overview
- Stanley the Labrador dug up a bright blue glass vial stamped "Not To Be Taken" in a Clyst Honiton garden.
- Owner Paul Phillips researched the object and identified it as a Victorian-era poison bottle commonly used in the mid-19th century.
- Phillips noted the find location is near the former home of Mary Ann Ashford, who was convicted in 1866 of killing her husband William the previous year.
- Historical reports cited in the coverage describe traces of arsenic and strychnine on Ashford’s clothing and a prolonged public execution in Exeter witnessed by a large crowd.
- Phillips has stored the bottle in his garage and is seeking local historical input, with no forensic testing or confirmed provenance reported.