Road workers unearth 300-year-old network of smugglers' tunnels under former castle[UK]

Daily Mail ^ | 07 Mar 2008 | Daily Mail

[BGHater]

A 300-year-old network of smugglers tunnels thought to link houses to a river has been unearthed underneath the site of a former medieval castle, it emerged today.

The mysterious 10ft deep passages were discovered by water engineers carrying out routine maintenance work on pipes below a road.

The 18th Century tunnels had punched through the wall of Bridgwater Castle, which was destroyed following a Civil War siege in 1645.

Smuggler's tunnel: The 18th Century passages were found by road digging water engineers

They are thought to have led to cellars within the Somerset town and helped supply households with illegal and untaxed goods delivered at night by boats on the River Parret.

Richard McConnell, Project Manager with Context One, an archeological service working with Wessex Water, said : "They could have been used for some kind of clandestine movement of materials from one place to another."

But David Baker, chairman of the Bridgwater and District Archaeological Society, believes the tunnel might be 18th century sewers.

He says they could have been built big enough for a man to walk down and carry out services in the case of blockages.

Historic: The tunnels were under a demolished medieval castle in Bridgwater, Somerset

Archaeologists are also excited by the discovery of the well-preserved castle walls on Wednesday, which has been hailed as an "exceptional find".

The giant stone structure, originally built in 1202 under the reign of King John, was flattened 443 years later when Parliamentarians sacked the Royalist stronghold.

The area had been the scene of a fierce battle, where Roundhead leader Oliver Cromwell was nearly shot nearly killed.

And if Lady Crystabella Wyndham, the wife of the Royalist leader Colonel Sir Francis Wyndham, had been a little more accurate with her musket the British history might have been a little different.

Eventually, with many buildings destroyed in Bridgewater, the monarchy was restored with Charles after 11 years of republican government.

Remains: The walls of the castle, desroyed in 1646 during the Civil War, can be seen

In 1720 the site of the castle was bought by James Bridges, Duke of Chandos, who built a manor house.

The Duke wanted to develop and modernise Bridgwater, so he instructed the building of a modern housing development and building the tunnels.

[BGHater]

Cool stuff.

[Puppage]

Cool stuff

I'll 2nd that

[wideawake]

And if Lady Crystabella Wyndham, the wife of the Royalist leader Colonel Sir Francis Wyndham, had been a little more accurate with her musket the British history might have been a little different.

You have to think kindly of the Crystabella Wyndhams and Claus von Stauffenbergs of the world, who tried to do the right thing.

[Wiseghy]

Just imagine how high those taxes must have been, to justify building such an elaborate tunnel complex.

Then, imagine how strongly the local population must have felt in order to keep the tunnels so completely secret from the authorities, who certainly would have destroyed them had they been discovered.

People have been hating taxes and unfair regulation for a long time.