A number of those readers remembered a story about tunnels underneath Hansford Menswear, also in South Street, so we spoke the shop''s owner to find out more. Matthew Hansford described a blocked-off passage in cellar of the shop, which he believes may have led to the cathedral
In the 1970s the passageway was open and was once used by burglars who used the route to break-in to the shop and make off with a number of sheepskin coats.
Matthew said: "I think [the burglary] was before I was here, in the 70s, but the tunnel has been breeze-blocked up now. It is probably as much hearsay as anything else but as far as I know it was built to link the cathedral to the shop.
"The shop used to house the vicars and people who worked at the cathedral but I haven''t been down there because it is breeze-blocked up. "All I have been told is that originally the priests, or whoever, used to go underground but I''m not sure if there is just one tunnel or several."
Amateur investigators are also looking into the reported tunnels which are different the river Lavant culverts.
If you have any information about possible tunnels under the city, get in touch:
Summersdale is an attractive area in the north of Chichester. Spacious and leafy, the character of the area is now under threat with many houses on large plots at risk of demolition and re-development. It is an historic suburb with high quality architecture in street scenes that are worthy of enlightened protection.
It was under the Crypt and right next to the cathedral
Maureen Williams, 82, of Westgate, recalled a school trip into the rumoured tunnels under Chichester when she was at Chichester High School for Girls.
She estimates she was in her early teens at the time and said she chose to share her memories after reading about the search for evidence in this newspaper.
There is rumoured to be a tunnel from the white horse to the buttery and then from the buttery to the cathedral.
Regarding a tunnel from the crypt to the cathedral. Apparently Keats while upstairs being "entertained" watched the monks lock the gate to the cathedral. Now did he have xray specs on ??? That''s the pic of the guy gesturing towards the shelves is where the door way used to be
Borehole drilling is a technique that allows you to access underground water sources by creating a deep and narrow hole in the ground. In this blog post, we will explain what borehole drilling is, how it works, and what are its benefits and challenges.
ON THE south side of East Street, close to the Market Cross, lies number 92 which up until fairly recently was The Royal Arms public house (also known as Ye Olde Punch House).
Although the façade dates to the Georgian era, the building is of a timber-framed construction said to date from the 16th century.
Much of the original building survives including highly decorated plaster ceilings displaying the Tudor Rose and fleur-de-lis.
It was once a private town house belonging to the Lumley family of Stansted.
Between The Drive’s western and southern ends, Charles Stride built a private estate in c.1905 which included a nine hole golf course designed by James Braid, a lodge (Uplands), and a mansion (Woodland Place) with tree-lined grounds which, as Rew Lane, was developed in the late 1950s. The golf course was too close to the Goodwood course to be a commercial success and it was given up for gravel extraction immediately prior to the first World War, with a mineral branch line connected later to the Chichester-Midhurst railway. His golf course and pavilion is mentioned in https://golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php/england/south-east/sussex/851-sus-summersdale-golf-club-chichester
