this labyrinth is part of the williamson tunnels in the edge hill district of liverpool ,from what we have been told Joseph Williamson built quite a lot of 4 story houses in this area and along with the house came a 4 story deep cellar for what reason is unknown....and at some point connects to the other tunnels that were built
from what we have been told this underground labyrinth is one of them cellars and it was found back in 1999 by pure chance, whilst demolition of existing residential flats on the land turned up a sort of large slab sticking out of the ground whilst excavation was underway one day, carefully watched by the friends of williamson tunnels trust they asked could the slab be lifted and to there amazement a hole appeared underneath it once it was lifted.
without wasting any time a ladder was brought in and lowered down and brick work was found in the shape of arches, some of the brick was knocked through to reveal the complex cellar system which remains today,and continues to be excavated.
the trust was in the area on the understanding that this plot of land had a tunnel running through it and if they had not been here that day it would have been lost forever, tarmaced over and forgotten so it was a lucky find for them.
me and kevsy21 was allowed access into this place by the bloke who runs this project ,after id recieved information off another mate of mine and decided to follow it up.
a bloody nice bloke indeed giving us a brief history lesson on the tunnels and mr williamson himself, we was joined shortly after by a group of his volunteers who were equally pleasant they told us it was frustrating for them as they recently bought a conveyer system to get rid of the earth, but couldnt because they wernt allowed a skip outside at the moment ,so they have to keep shifting earth in buckets to various parts of the cellars, whilst they excavate further.
it was great to see this underground part thats not yet (and if it ever does) open to the public ,and it was also good to see some of the bottles they had dug up mostly local liverpool stuff which was nice.
a little about the williamson tunnels.
The Williamson Tunnels are a labyrinth of tunnels and underground caverns under the Edge Hill district of Liverpool in north-west England.
They were built in the first few decades of the 1800s under the control of a retired tobacco merchant called Joseph Williamson.
The purpose of their construction is not known with any certainty. Theories range from pure philanthropy, offering work to the unemployed of the district, to religous extremism, the tunnels being an underground haven from a predicted Armageddon.
Although some of the tunnels have been lost over the years, a lot of them still exist today, under what is now a residential area.
One section of the tunnels has been cleared and renovated and is open to the public. The remaining parts of the labyrinth are closed, with many suspected tunnels yet to be rediscovered.
Friends of Williamson's Tunnels is a voluntary organisation which is trying to find and excavate the whole of the system. they are one of the biggest local history societies in Britain.
the trust secured a deal with the council and various other parties to install a huge manhole like cover with ladders for access in and out of the cellars......the electric and link lights came later on, air is also pumped in constantley whilst people are working down there as it gets quite stale we were told
the first real look at what lies ahead....the original sandstone steps still remain and various arches grace the way down
the bottom level which is level 3 (level 4 is yet to be excavated) houses a rather long ash filled tunnel (2 in fact), part of this has been dug out ,although they dont expect to find anything of historical value in there, but they reckon the tunnel will open out into another big huge cavern further along.
some of the stonework in here was amazing, the spoils on the right are whats getting excavated down here from other parts of this level
some of the stuff found so far
these things found have to stay in here so they display everything and number it as they find it ,moving earth from one part of the cellars to the other...this display was actually stopping excavation on another tunnel on level 3 due to it being right at the end, but they had no where else to put it.......the bloke who runs the project is trying to get these put on display in the main heritage centre
level 2 also housed quite a few nice surprises (the brick walls have been made by the volunteers to hide some of the rubble and earth they cant get rid of.)
skullz...
this made me laugh a bloke hitting a skeleton with a bat?
from what we have been told this underground labyrinth is one of them cellars and it was found back in 1999 by pure chance, whilst demolition of existing residential flats on the land turned up a sort of large slab sticking out of the ground whilst excavation was underway one day, carefully watched by the friends of williamson tunnels trust they asked could the slab be lifted and to there amazement a hole appeared underneath it once it was lifted.
without wasting any time a ladder was brought in and lowered down and brick work was found in the shape of arches, some of the brick was knocked through to reveal the complex cellar system which remains today,and continues to be excavated.
the trust was in the area on the understanding that this plot of land had a tunnel running through it and if they had not been here that day it would have been lost forever, tarmaced over and forgotten so it was a lucky find for them.
me and kevsy21 was allowed access into this place by the bloke who runs this project ,after id recieved information off another mate of mine and decided to follow it up.
a bloody nice bloke indeed giving us a brief history lesson on the tunnels and mr williamson himself, we was joined shortly after by a group of his volunteers who were equally pleasant they told us it was frustrating for them as they recently bought a conveyer system to get rid of the earth, but couldnt because they wernt allowed a skip outside at the moment ,so they have to keep shifting earth in buckets to various parts of the cellars, whilst they excavate further.
it was great to see this underground part thats not yet (and if it ever does) open to the public ,and it was also good to see some of the bottles they had dug up mostly local liverpool stuff which was nice.
a little about the williamson tunnels.
The Williamson Tunnels are a labyrinth of tunnels and underground caverns under the Edge Hill district of Liverpool in north-west England.
They were built in the first few decades of the 1800s under the control of a retired tobacco merchant called Joseph Williamson.
The purpose of their construction is not known with any certainty. Theories range from pure philanthropy, offering work to the unemployed of the district, to religous extremism, the tunnels being an underground haven from a predicted Armageddon.
Although some of the tunnels have been lost over the years, a lot of them still exist today, under what is now a residential area.
One section of the tunnels has been cleared and renovated and is open to the public. The remaining parts of the labyrinth are closed, with many suspected tunnels yet to be rediscovered.
Friends of Williamson's Tunnels is a voluntary organisation which is trying to find and excavate the whole of the system. they are one of the biggest local history societies in Britain.
the trust secured a deal with the council and various other parties to install a huge manhole like cover with ladders for access in and out of the cellars......the electric and link lights came later on, air is also pumped in constantley whilst people are working down there as it gets quite stale we were told
the first real look at what lies ahead....the original sandstone steps still remain and various arches grace the way down
the bottom level which is level 3 (level 4 is yet to be excavated) houses a rather long ash filled tunnel (2 in fact), part of this has been dug out ,although they dont expect to find anything of historical value in there, but they reckon the tunnel will open out into another big huge cavern further along.
some of the stonework in here was amazing, the spoils on the right are whats getting excavated down here from other parts of this level
some of the stuff found so far
these things found have to stay in here so they display everything and number it as they find it ,moving earth from one part of the cellars to the other...this display was actually stopping excavation on another tunnel on level 3 due to it being right at the end, but they had no where else to put it.......the bloke who runs the project is trying to get these put on display in the main heritage centre
level 2 also housed quite a few nice surprises (the brick walls have been made by the volunteers to hide some of the rubble and earth they cant get rid of.)
skullz...
this made me laugh a bloke hitting a skeleton with a bat?
