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
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.
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.
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.
