The history on this place is a little light to say the least. Needless to say it was also extremely difficult to find, yet alone document it. Perseverance & determination finally paid off though & after weeks of research, chatting to a couple of elder locals & a little bit of luck, the tunnel was finally located.
The little history we've managed to gather is that the tunnel itself dates back around 300 years, & was once connected to a quarry, now long gone. The tunnels was put to good use in early 1941 as an air raid shelter for around 600 to 800 people, equipped only with hurricane lamps for lighting. Later in the same year it was noted that up to 1,000 people took shelter during one raid but there was no sanitary or seating available & it wasn't until autumn 1941 that improvements were made after several complaints & the fact that women & children slept there on a nightly basis.
Looking at the tunnel shelter today, there is little evidence of it's protective role during WW2, other than electric cables, & signs of blast walls near the entrance. Since the war, there has been a collapse at the end but even with that, we found it hard to imagine how so many people could have fitted in the shelter back then, let alone spend the night in it. Walking the length we had to stoop the full way, & we also realised there was no escape hatches, one way in - one way out, maybe the collapsed end had an answer but we will probably never know, although it most certainly offered better protection than many other shelters with a depth of between 40' & 60' below the surface.
On with the pics...
The entrance
Old farm/garden machinery lying within a few feet of the entrance
Evidence of a blast or baffle wall, about 15-20 feet inside the entrance
The small & only section of roof lining, with electricity cable running down the tunnel
Looking down the tunnel
More shots of the cable & conduit, with a fusebox about three quarters of the way in
NAAFI jug
At the end of the tunnel looking back
Large voids in the roof space near the blocked end
theterrorwheel lines up his shot of a fresh water spring well...
...& another shot of him taking a closer look at the collapse
Should we be able to find out more history on this tunnel/shelter, then we will keep you posted with an update, but until then, hope you enjoy the photos. Badoosh & theterrorwheel. Thanks to G for the original lead
.
The little history we've managed to gather is that the tunnel itself dates back around 300 years, & was once connected to a quarry, now long gone. The tunnels was put to good use in early 1941 as an air raid shelter for around 600 to 800 people, equipped only with hurricane lamps for lighting. Later in the same year it was noted that up to 1,000 people took shelter during one raid but there was no sanitary or seating available & it wasn't until autumn 1941 that improvements were made after several complaints & the fact that women & children slept there on a nightly basis.
Looking at the tunnel shelter today, there is little evidence of it's protective role during WW2, other than electric cables, & signs of blast walls near the entrance. Since the war, there has been a collapse at the end but even with that, we found it hard to imagine how so many people could have fitted in the shelter back then, let alone spend the night in it. Walking the length we had to stoop the full way, & we also realised there was no escape hatches, one way in - one way out, maybe the collapsed end had an answer but we will probably never know, although it most certainly offered better protection than many other shelters with a depth of between 40' & 60' below the surface.
On with the pics...
The entrance
Old farm/garden machinery lying within a few feet of the entrance
Evidence of a blast or baffle wall, about 15-20 feet inside the entrance
The small & only section of roof lining, with electricity cable running down the tunnel
Looking down the tunnel
More shots of the cable & conduit, with a fusebox about three quarters of the way in
NAAFI jug
At the end of the tunnel looking back
Large voids in the roof space near the blocked end
theterrorwheel lines up his shot of a fresh water spring well...
...& another shot of him taking a closer look at the collapse
Should we be able to find out more history on this tunnel/shelter, then we will keep you posted with an update, but until then, hope you enjoy the photos. Badoosh & theterrorwheel. Thanks to G for the original lead
.
lol nice little find though pity there isn't more remaining inside
