Welbeck Abbey and its subterranean tunnels


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Fascinating topic. Did a check on google images, came across some interesting photographs of both the interior and exterior of Welbeck Abbey. I wonder do they do guided tours of the building???

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1960 Inside the tunnel

According to this 1907 article , there were 11 miles of tunnels !! From the bit I have read (and I may be wrong) but the tunnels were built in trenches with brick arches and then the brickwork covered

I was a student at Welbeck College from 1965 to 1967. Like many before and after me many hours were spent exploring all the tunnels in the estate. Most memorable was the large tunnel leading from the

  • 2 years later...

I appreciate that this is quite an old thread but would like to know if anyone has visited or had any success exploring lately? I have no idea what the current state is, are any of the previously mentioned access points still accessible?

I've been fascinated by the tunnels for years and live just outside of Worksop. I was lucky enough to go part way down the tunnels as a kid whilst my dad did some repair work on the estate. We also saw the sunken greenhouses and on a separate occasion played a concert in the ballrooms, but most of this is a distant memory.

I'd love to take another look at the tunnels again someday. Any recent updates would be appreciated.

Folklore also suggested that the tunnels even led to the Lion Hotel and the Priory Church in Worksop, but there doesn't seem to be any other evidence to support this, despite Lion Hotel staff claiming that there is an old boarded up access point in their basement!

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Crikey wonder why the secrecy about tunnels , seems a lost commercial opportunity ..

A few photos here including a couple of inside one of the tunnels.

http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/welbeck-abbey-tunnels-08-04-2007.t13119

This a drawing of one of the tunnels from 1889 The caption says its a mile and a half long .

https://c4.staticflickr.com/8/7782/17446254725_eb618b2dc0_n.jpg

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According to this 1907 article , there were 11 miles of tunnels !! From the bit I have read (and I may be wrong) but the tunnels were built in trenches with brick arches and then the brickwork covered over with earth but leaving at regular spaces glass domes for light . They should be visible from an aerial shot of the terrain ?

Just ordered a s/h book called The Underground Man by Mick Jackson from Amazon as it sounds fascinating . Only 1p plus postage !

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Underground-Man-Mick-Jackson-ebook/dp/B004EPXX6K/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1431166676&sr=1-1&keywords=the+underground+man

The Dukes name also crops up in a famous court case in which it was alleged that he had a double life and was also known as a T.C Druce who ran a shop in Baker Street !!

16825776524_d640022673_o.jpg

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Great stuff Robbie .Thats the first clear photo I have seen of the inside of one of the tunnels .

Still don't understand why they haven't made more of these tunnels or are they too costly to repair for health and safety ?

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Hi All,

An good idea for someone would be to go down into the cellar of The Old Ship (If there is one) with Ground-Penetrating-Radar (GPR) and see what's buried down there if any. It would show on the GPR that there's a 20ft gap then a hollow tunnel. The Operator can differentiate the difference between a pipe and a hand-dug tunnel. With permission from the owners you could drill down and have a look to see where it goes.

Thanks,

Regent3

gprdata-tunneldetection-l.jpg

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