buttery internal

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!"

All images below are from a tv show and cammonets are subjective views from presenters. TV name unknown

 

 

 

 

 

Random articles of interest

Chichester Culverts

We do not suggest going into the culverts.
These are not classified as tunnels and can be dangerous

 video of culverts/storm drains/winterbourne route

 

Map of Chichester showing Rivers

 

www.streetmap.co.uk\\/map.srf?x=486359&y=104953&z=120&sv=chichester&st=3&tl=Map%20of%20Chichester%2C%20West%20Sussex%20[City%2FLarge%20Town]&searchp=ids.srf&mapp=map.srf&fbclid=IwAR2IV7YUeQ8u_GBTHRE24fSpUvVRwu5CpZxdPt1fs_injtw73WMxXbTQ25s

The Punch house

punch house pub

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.

Read more: The Punch house

building a cellar

cellar image

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.

Read more: building a cellar

Summersdale FOOTBALL FIELD SURPRISE

FOOTBALL FIELD SURPRISE.

A singular happening lay behind the prosaic news on saturday that the
chuichester and District League football fixture, Summersadale VS Boxgrove, had o be postponed
owing to the ground on this hill suburb of Chichester being unfit.

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Architects concept plan - Graylingwell aerial designers dream

architects concept plan - graylingwell aerial designers dream. This vision is far from reality and some say even mention the trades description act.

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peterborough tunnels

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.

 

The stories of tunnels from Peterborough to

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Summersdale Neighbourhood Character Appraisal

'

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.


Read more: Summersdale Neighbourhood Character Appraisal

65 East Street

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.

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