Builders who uncovered the remains of a Viking ship in a pub cellar did what any self-respecting workmen would do - they hid it, just like their foreman told them.
Instead they told no one, knocked down the Railway Inn in Meols, rebuilt it further from the road and turned the old pub into a car park.
Fifty years on, one of the builders mentioned it to his son who drew a sketch and passed it on to the local university.
Now archaeologists believe their find was a 1,000-year-old Viking longship and could be one of Britain's most significant archaeological finds.
Viking expert Professor Stephen Harding, of the University of Nottingham, used ground-penetrating radar equipment to pinpoint the ship's whereabouts.
He is now seeking funds to pay for a major archaeological dig to excavate the site.
Prof Harding said: "Although we still don't know what sort of vessel it is, it's very old for sure and its Nordic clinker design, position and location suggests it may be a transport vessel from the Viking settlement period if, not long afterwards.
"It is speculation at the moment but at least we now know exactly where to look to find out. How it got there is also hard to say. It is some distance from the present coastline and probably the old one too. It might have got to its present position after flooding and sinking into an old marsh."
Meols, on Merseyside's Wirral peninsula, is known to have one of Britain's best preserved Viking settlements, buried deep beneath the village and nearby coastal defences.
The vessel is thought to lie beneath 6ft to 10ft (2m to 3m) of waterlogged clay - a natural preservative - under the Railway Inn and its car park.
Workers unearthed the vessel in 1938 but were told by the foreman to cover it over again - he knew that an archaeological dig would delay construction.
Prof Harding thinks there is a possibility of accessing the boat from the pub cellar, which could eventually allow members of the public to view it.
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