Almost definitely Defoe - rediscovered papers may be by the Robinson Crusoe author

A 14^th century pub, the Stockwell Arms, in Colchester, UK has yielded some handwritten manuscripts which may prove to be extremely valuable. They were discovered under the floorboards.

The papers have been turned up during a £1m refurbishment project. Apparently written with quills, it is hoped they can confirm the long held belief that Daniel Defoe lived there during the 1700s.

Defoe, born Daniel Foe, was an English writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe (though he wrote over 500 books and pamphlets).

The work have gained iconic status in the literary world, and was even the subject of a series of paintings by the renowned American painter N C Wyeth.

Another of his best known works was Moll Flanders, and some have even suggested that he wrote this whilst living in the property. The work was published in 1722, and tells the story of the fall and eventual redemption of a lone woman in seventeenth-century England.

The heroine keeps the reader on her side in spite of many actions of questionable moral character - including incest.

Details of the newly discovered papers have not been released, but the future owner of the property is understood to be showing them to museums and other experts, with some excitement.