A church bell buried beneath a roadside verge has been uncovered during utility works in Hostynne, a village in eastern Poland.
The discovery was made while contractors were digging a trench for street-lighting cables. Heritage officials were later called to examine the object and document the circumstances of the find.
The bell was recovered around 230 metres from the village church, originally Orthodox and now used by the Roman Catholic parish.
Made of brass, it survives in remarkably good condition. There are no obvious fractures and the original iron clapper remains inside. The bell measures 41 centimetres in height and 43 centimetres in diameter.
Although corrosion covers parts of the surface, decorative details can still be made out. Floral motifs encircle the crown, while faint ornamentation survives near the lower edge. No inscription, date, or foundry mark has been identified so far.
Hostynne appears in written sources from 1394. Records show an Orthodox church in the village by 1472. The present brick building was erected in 1889–1890, replacing an earlier wooden church.
How the bell came to be buried remains unclear.
One explanation is that it was concealed during the First World War, a period when occupying forces often seized church bells for their metal. Other possibilities have also been raised, including the turbulent decades that followed, when the church experienced periods of closure and the region was affected by further conflict.
Stories about hidden bells have circulated locally for generations. Whether the newly discovered bell is connected to those accounts is impossible to say at present.
The bell is expected to undergo conservation before being put on display. According to plans announced by the Werbkowice Commune Office, it will eventually be exhibited in a sheltered structure at the future Communal Crisis Management Centre in Werbkowice.
