D.O.E Tunnels

Excavated during the 19th Century these tunnels form part of a larger network of interlinked tunnels. It is rumoured that the tunnels were brick lined by Napoleonic Prisoners of War.

The tunnels are mainly chalk and brick lined in sections, there is a staircase that leads down to a railway line which is reputed to have been put in to allow wounded or dead soldiers to be taken off of trains during the Second World War.

Originally they were used for the excavation of chalk to make lime and then used for the storing of oil and other goods.

During WWI they were used as air raid shelters and again in WWII were used for the same purpose by the military although civilian use was eventually permitted.

There is a belief that the tunnels were owned by the Department of Environment after WWII but this hasn’t been confirmed.

Since the Second World War the tunnels have been used for storage and workshops, their current use unknown.