In July, the school was contacted by 90-year-old Janet Phillips of Somerset, England, a textile crafter who regularly sifted through jumble sales for material and inspiration.
At one such sale, she found a white, single bed-sized quilt emblazoned "NZ Tokomairiro High School Milton", with the year 1916 hand-embroidered in red in some of its 56 panels.
Thirty years later Mrs Phillips Googled the words, emailed the school and promptly posted a package.
"We’re delighted. We think it is quite a find," principal Vicki Wish said.
"It looks as though a number of students embroidered squares with messages and then these were stitched together to create the quilt. There are several references to World War 1 and all the squares have a name linked to the Tokomairiro district, such as Littlejohn, Graham and McKechnie."
She said contact had been made with local museums to check for similar items, and display storage was being considered for the quilt, which would be valued as a resource for studies including Anzac Day and war poetry.
"We are fascinated by this unique artefact and keen to uncover its full story," Mrs Wish said.
"If you have any knowledge of this quilt, please get in touch to help us piece together its history. It would be lovely to find out for the school, and Mrs Phillips is also keen to hear back what we find out."
