HISTORICAL INTEREST- 01

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The Tunnels of Brentwood By Dennis Rookard For those of us born and bred around this town, It was one of the first things we learnt about Brentwood – It was whispered in playgrounds, much discussed by street gangs of local kids under streetlamps before bed called and argued about by we under aged drinkers in certain high street back bars. Yes, it had to be true, the facts had been handed down though countless generations and every body knew someone, who had had it at first hand from a friend, that yes - There be secret tunnels under this town. The fact that so far nobody has actually found it or them hasn't, put off local tunnel lovers for it rather depends on which story you believe. So here for newcomers to the town and those a little hazy on their Brentwood secret tunnel history, Heres Rookards definitive guide. First off. Lets examine the great South Weald Tunnel mystery. According to local folk law, this infamous tunnel ran from St Peters Church in South Weald well over two miles to the ruins of the Chapel in Brentwood High Street. Now this to tunnel believers and romantics is still there and yet to be found. But could it really exist. The historical facts for their case are that the old Chapel ruins in the high street are really all that's left of a much larger priory, built at a time when the Bishopric of St Osyth came up with the idea of building a sort of medieval motorway service station to cash in on the needs of the large numbers of pilgrims crossing the county. Here Travellers either heading south to the Thames and . on to Canterbury or following the old Roman road out of London to the shines of East Anglia or the North meet at a convenient crossroads. This lay within what was then the parish of St Peters at South Weald. So the new Priory would have had a few monks lurking within. So could it be, that come the end of a hard days praying, they'd throw off their monk's habits and slipping into the medieval equivalent of jeans and t-shirt scuttle through a short tunnel into the Inn next door. This by the way was quite common at this time as according to reports being a monk was a good life and not all of them were as pious as one would expect. Indeed at one priory in Lincoln, their local tunnel run under the walls of the nunnery next door. Things here got to such a pitch that many ended up getting married. Needless to say their happy days ended when the two establishments were dissolved. And married monks and nuns, plus Children took up other occupations. So it could be, much the same was happening here in early Brentwood. We do know that when in the thirties the foundations for the old Odeon cinema were being excavated some old monks cells were found, and over the road in the cellars of the Old Lion and Lamb, now the home of W.H.Smith, It was reported that a Tunnel entrance had been found. But I doubt if this is the infamous South Weald tunnel. For why go to the bother of digging a tunnel, when it would have been more easy to form a secret pathway though what would have been dense undergrowth, and running well away from the cart track used by Pilgrims between Brentwood and the larger village of South Weald. One thing is certain, you can't keep a good Tunnel rumour down, and a few years back hopes were high among local tunnel hunters when they built the A12 by pass. Despite cutting though the theoretical route of this underground passage, and with keen eyes watching the diggers at work, nothing was found. But this inconvenient fact has done nothing to sway the hopes of the tunnel hunters. Who knows they might even one day find it. But far more likely is the story that has the tunnel located at South Weald Hall, where the five foot high brick lined construction ran two hundred yards between the house and the stables. Quite why they wanted a tunnel is open to question, maybe to keep out of the rain. Although both house and stables have long gone, the tunnel is still rumoured to exist, the entrance known only to a few villagers sworn to secrecy. Yet another version has the tunnel from the house appearing under the mound in South Weald Park where the Belvedere tower, complete with a secret room once stood. For many this is the true entrance, pointing to the fact that they had ventured into a large cave under the foundations. But the great South Weald secret tunnel is not the only secret tunnel in the area. Not if we are to believe certain folk in Shenfield. They maintain a tunnel exists between a wartime bunker between the railway lines near Shenfield station and a point some way alongside the Shenfield Road. Now in part being used buy a Sportswear company, the Bunker was built at the point where the railway route out of Shenfield divides on two high embankments, leaving a large space between them. This was ideal protection for the building built during wartime to take over and control the entire railway system in east London should the Liverpool Street control room and signal box had been put out of action by bombing. As most of the building is on the surface, it's hard to see the need for an escape tunnel. The trouble with any secret tunnel of course is they tend to grow longer with age, The war time Railway control bunker at Shenfield may well have had a fast escape route out the back. Just in case enemy troops were smashing down the entrance, but no way would it have led such a distance. Oh and we can't leave the subject without mention of Navestocks secret Nuclear bunker where yes, entrance is gained via a long tunnel under a hill, with another one surfacing on the hill covering the bunker. But mysterious secret tunnels part, Brentwood does have another real tunnel. I know because I was able to walk along part of it. It's under Wilsons Corner, and runs some way under Ingrave road. It was constructed around 1972 – 1973 as part of the building of the new Telephone exchange. The idea being that engineers could connect the new exchange with the old one for a couple of months during the change over to the new system, and after the change over, the tunnel would save telephone engineers having to dig up the road every time they wanted to lay new cables. There is of course a downside to this secret tunnel business. Why Build them in the first place, for under Brentwood is a very nasty geological secret. Dig anywhere deep enough and you hit clay and water in the form of springs. Even under the high street the water table is so high which would mean that any passageway would soon become flooded. The other factor, is that by their very nature, secret tunnels tend to remain hidden, so if you know of any we Brentwood tunnel lovers don't know about. We would be delighted to know. Ends. Home Page Article Library next story