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.', '
She said: "It was under the Crypt and right next to the cathedral. We had already seen parts of it and while we were down there our teacher was talking about Keats. It went along South Street."
Poet John Keats began writing The Eve of St Agnes in Chichester in 1819, as is said to have spent time in the South Street building that was formerly The Buttery at the Crypt.
"It was all to do with Keats and I think what happened is we were talking to one of our teachers about it and there was one teacher who was very kind and decided she wanted to show us.
"Keats might have gone down into them to do some writing - it was so miserable down there."
Maureen described the tunnel as dark, and with a ''black and brownish sort of colour''.
He said: "There''s a story about Keats having a coffee near the crypt and actually watching this priest emerge from the tunnels but he would have been in a room above the Buttery.
"Her story is intriguing because it ties in with the the story about tunnels under South Street that runs down the East side of the path, by Iceland. Her story adds intrigue to intrigue because of the other rumours it ties in with but I would have to start researching the whole of South Street first."
Reacting to Liam''s comments, Maureen added: "I think that, at my age, I have not gone completely gaga like I thought I had. I am 82 but I don''t feel 82 and that has made feel like I really am alive!"
Find out more about the search for Chichester''s ''secret tunnels''
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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.
About 50 years ago in the vestry of St. John’s Church In Chichester a flag stone was taken up by some teenagers and a tunnel was revealed. Apparently it runs along under St Johns Street in a south / north direction
Brandy Hole Lane, East Broyle Copse area in the northwest part of Chichester. A well-developed doline line extends east-west across the area to the north of Brandy Hole Lane, along the underlying Chalk-Reading Beds boundary.
The Environment Agency has made 1m-resolution LIDAR imagery coverage for large areas of England and Wales freely available on the internet under Open Government Licence (www.lidarfinder.com).
summeerdale football ,I have an update on the old newspaper article relating to Summersdale and the tunnel found under a football pitch. I sent an email to the Summersdale Residents Association, and they were extremely helpful with one of the members being able to identify a location for the site of the pitch. Looking at some old maps and combining the documents from Liam Mandville regarding subsidence etc. the area between The Avenue and Highland Road (on the Eastern side), does fit well as to the location. Many of the properties built on this site have substantial gardens so there may still be something to find that could explain what was found by the groundkeeper all those years ago? ,5f6f8e5fb6881-116345275_10157348686446892_326855352233187857_n.jpg,5f6f8e5fb7b45-116168775_10157348685396892_1033817068655264665_n.jpg
One of the most common questions I’m asked about Peterborough’s history is whether there are any tunnels under the city. Local legends say that there is a tunnel stretching from the Cathedral to Monk’s Cave at Longthorpe. Similar tunnels are alleged to stretch from the Cathedral to the abbeys at Thorney or Crowland.
These are familiar myths in many historic cities across the UK, mostly urban legends based on half remembrances of sewers, cellars or crawlspaces, coupled with wishful thinking and rumour.
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.
Archaeological Evaluation at Lower Graylingwell, Chichester
Archaeological and Historical Background 2.1.1 An Archaeological Desk-based Assessment was produced for the site in 2014 (AMEC 2015), and a summary of the key findings are reproduced below. 2.1.2 A small Palaeolithic handaxe was found in an evaluation 150m east of the site. There are no records of Mesolithic finds within 500m of the site. 2.1.3 Early Neolithic pits containing pottery and flintwork were found at Baxendale Avenue some 150m south of the site, and four small pits, one containing later Neolithic pottery, during evaluation a
