We have an interest in sorting out the fact from the fable. If you already have documentary evidence etc then tell us and show us.
Now if anyone of you have "odd bits" in your basement, shop cellar or whatever and would welcome us to do a peek then feel free to tell us at our facebook group .
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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.
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
DD
I worked at 65 East Street when it was ''Hammick''s Bookshop'' (now Specsavers). We had a trapdoor in the middle of the floor that led down to a tunnel-shaped cellar that seemed to extend through the front of the shop and under the pavement outside. I didn''t see any evidence of it ever having joined another tunnel and imagine that perhaps there was once an opening in the pavement for deliveries.
Historically, to build a house with a simple cellar you would dig out the ground to a depth of around 6ft, the cellar walls would have been constructed with a lining of stone or brick and with a drain for water within the cellar. The floors would have been built up on crushed stone or sand to provide a level surface and paved, usually with flags. Brick paving became more common in later periods.
Graylingwell plan with well and springs ponds.
The Chichester SMR holds information for 48 sites, whilst the National Monuments Record
Centre holds details of a further 16 sites within the study area. An additional four sites were
located through analysis of historic mapping and during the course of the walkover survey and
one from aerial photographs. Full site descriptions and locations can be seen in Appendix B.
Within the report, the bracketed numbers after site descriptions relate to those allocated to
individual sites in Appendix B and on Figure 2.
First, there are no maps in the presentation to hidden tunnels , all information is in the public domain and if we get distracted during our searches that is only natural.
I will try and make this as interesting as possible and we will not be getting our boots dirty.
Why have a cellar?
Having a cellar was actually quite an expensive and a time consuming affair. Most people didn't. There was no point unless there was something to store or servants to hide.
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.
Read more: It was under the Crypt and right next to the cathedral
