Portion of London-Liverpool telegraph cable, 1853

6 wire London to Liverpool cable laid 1853 near Welsh Harp, recovered 1903

British towns and cities began to be linked by telegraph wires from the early 1840s. Most lines were overhead but in a few places were laid underground, such as the London to Liverpool six-wire cable laid in 1853 near Welsh Harp, in north-west London. This specimen of the cable was recovered in 1903. There are few such specimens of underground telegraph cables from such an early date in the Science Museum’s collections so the opportunity to acquire this from the former BT collection was welcomed.