Tunnels under Sheffield

[Geoff 10]

Was sent this e-mail which might be of interest...

 

i have just been looking at your letters from people interrested in tunnels under sheff and barnsley this i know nothing of but in doncaster i can confirm their is tunnels under the town with gothic carvings that is documented in many doncaster history books these were built by a guy who had a sand quarry in hyde park and built himself a house into the same of a sandstone rock face but continued under the town.in the 1970s a large block of flats were starting to subside and the council who knew about these tunells decided to fill them with concrete but before they did the ytv calender tv program took a camera crew down and filmed what was left it showed the gothic carvings that are quite well documented .these tunels were unique but the local council as usual did not take advantage of this ,i hope this might be of some interest to your chat room people who are into the sheffield tunels regards steve@doncaster

[PopT 10]

I remember an old aunt of mine walking one of the tunnels in the 1950's.

 

She was part of a study group belonging to the Hunter Archaeology Society.

 

I know that society produce an annual book for its members with papers written about their different yearly finds.

 

Maybe someone out there has seen a report on the tunnels.

 

I would be interested to learn more factual accounts about them.

[fuzbuz 10]

oh oh oh id like to go bet its amazing

[Tony 10]

I still don't believe that these are anything more than a figment of vivid imaginations. Nobody has been able to prove that there is anything but Mine shafts, bell pits, adits, sewers and foundations underneath Sheffield, and Sheffield's topography hardly lends itself to the tunnels that are suggested.

 

Sorry to be so sceptical. I do like the romance of the idea

[Saxon 10]

I've just bought a book called 'Sheffield's Time Trail: True tales from the Norfolk Park Heritage Trail.'

 

It talks about the tunnels under the city and one in particular is definitely known to exist. It runs from Sheffield Castle (demolished in the mid 1600's by order of the Parliamentarians in the Civil War) and goes to the Queens Head in Pond Street, which at the time was the Lord of the Manor's banqueting house.

[Pete_S 10]

I think the tunnel from Sheffield Castle to The Queens Head could be right, bur Manor Lodge to Queens Head..... no way!

I lived on Skye Edge in the late 40s and 50s and though there was talk about a tunnel we never found any evidence.

Manor Lodge was known to us as Maggie's Castle in those days. Its caretaker was a little old woman who always dressed in black, she was Maggie and she used to frighten us to death! She had about 20 dogs and used to walk them every night - we all kept out of her way.

[Tony 10]

Why on earth would anyone want to go to all the trouble of digging these tunnels? What purpose would they serve when you can just pop on a horse or walk?

[Saxon 10]

Secrecy and skullduggery, Tony. Remember when the castle etc were built, there were plots and intrigue all over the place, a la Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I.

[Tony 10]

Yea, but why? I still don't get it. Go at night if you don't want to be seen.

 

Why on earth would anyone want to go underground from the Castle to the Queens head, all of 400 yds away?

 

I don't know of anyone that has actually seen or been into one of these tunnels - and I mean a real one, not an entry that's really a bell pit, or a bricked up door that supposedly has a secret pasage behind it.

 

I still think it's nothing more than a romantic fancy.

[H.P 10]

I was asking my dad about the tunnels the other day(ex fireman been down a lot of holes and underground caverns) he seems to think that tony is right and most of the tunnels were actually old mine workings and victorian sewers. he says that hes been on many calls to road collapse and landslide and they were usually mines and sewers, although he seems to think that there were tunnels from the cathedral but says most were blocked up for saftey reasons

[natcow 10]

i may be able to clear up some confusion over tunnels under sheffield.there is a network of many tunnels that run from most of sheffields public buildings(uni ,hospitals,town hall ect) i have walked down many of these .they are there for the district heating system that provides cheap heating for the said building .i hope this may help

[deecee 10]

Originally posted by max

I've heard rumours of tunnels leading from the Ponderosa under Crookes Valley Road to the park. Reputedly, they were used to store barrage balloons in WW1.

 

Anybody have any further knowledge of these?

 

Hiya Max, I have just come across this thread about tunnels under Sheffield, and read your posting about the tunnel under Crookes Valley Road. I can confirm this particular tunnel ran from Canada Street ( which was between the top of Bromley Street and Mushroom Lane ) under Crookes Valley Road. I am not sure where it came out though, possibly in Crookes Valley Park. I actually went in the tunnel as a lad in the 1950's with a few more lads but we didn't get far because there wasn't any lighting, only a shaft of light from the top of the steel doors. We did it for a prank , but I can remember it being very eerie . I think you are right about the fact of it being a storage place for barrage ballons/munitions etc., but for WW2 . "The Ponderosa " was then called " The Tip" and Bromley Street ran up the side of it. It can be viewed on http://www.picturesheffield.co.uk by searching for " Bromley Street "

 

deecee