Ley tunnels are a common element of the local folklore tradition in the United Kingdom and they also occur in Europe. In Norwegian a ley tunnel-like passage is called a "lønngang" (lønn = "hidden / secret", and gang = passage) and in Swedish a "lönngång". Ley tunnels are said to physically link together prominent places such as country houses, castles, churches, ancient monuments and other, often medieval, buildings.
Legends about the existence of ley tunnels involve usually improbably long subterranean passages, sometimes running under major obstacles such as rivers and lakes to reach their destinations. Religious buildings, monks and the landed gentry are a particularly common element in many of the ley tunnel stories.
It is unlikely that many of the recorded ley tunnels exist physically, for this is a characteristic of their very nature; their significance lies in why so many similar legends of Ley tunnels have arisen and in their connection with the more esoteric notions of channels or paths of earth energy, etc.[2]
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Underground structures have a fascination due to their being hidden from view and their contents, purpose, extent and destinations remaining unknown. Over the centuries many underground structures have been discovered by chance, ranging from Cornish Fogous, souterrains that are possibly Pictish, Roman and medieval sewers to 'smugglers' tunnels', escape tunnels, siege tunnels, and the like.
On occasion possible ley tunnels will prove to be of a purely natural origin, greatly exaggerated, such as at Cleeves Cove cave in Scotland, or Kents Cavern in England. The site at Cleeves Cove cave was previously known as the 'Elfhouse' or 'Elfhame'[3] the locals at that time believing that elves had made it their abode.[4][5]
Rarely natural caves or tunnel systems can be of great extent; the cave system with the greatest total length of passage is Mammoth Cave (Kentucky, USA) at 591 kilometers (367 mi) in length, whilst the next most extensive known cave is Jewel Cave near Custer, South Dakota, USA, at 225 kilometers (140 mi).[6]
Some castles really did have escape tunnels,[7] such as the short one located at Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, which leads from the old kitchens to a 'tunnel-like' bridge over the Hag Burn. Others examples were longer: at Nottingham Castle, the young king Edward III was imprisoned by Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. In 1330 a small group of armed supporters of Edward III used a secret passage to attack Mortimer. The attackers entered through a long, winding secret passage which led directly into the castle, allowing them to surprise and capture Mortimer.[8]
Other tunnels are products of an excessive desire for personal privacy, such as at Welbeck Abbey and Brownlow Castle; another ley tunnel type allowed for the supposed free and secret movement of monks, abbots and other ecclesiastics who may have had cause to keep a low profile for fear of attack or abusive treatment during periods of unrest, etc.[1] Smugglers at times avoided the excise man through what are often simply just drains, sewers or water supply conduits. Some genuine smugglers' tunnels do seem to exist however.
Bruce Walker, an expert on Scottish vernacular architecture, has suggested that the relatively numerous and usually long ruined ice houses on country estates have led to Scotland's many legends of ley tunnels. The appearance of ice house entrances lends itself to the unitiated making such deductions, seeing as how ice houses are often found in ha-ha walls, house and stable basements, woodland banks, open fields, etc.[9]
Many legends are associated with the actual and supposed activities of the Knights Templar and this is a rich vein for stories about tunnels connecting together the various properties that the order used to possess up to the 12th century, when they were suppressed.[10]
Sigmund Freud, Jung and others have various psychological interpretations of the symbolic meanings of tunnels and these clearly have a part to play in the origins of ley tunnel myths.
It has been suggested that an ancient ley line system once existed and was very nearly lost from folk memory, saved through legends of ley tunnels, place names, etc. Ley lines may therefore be perpetuated in the legends and rumours of secret passages or ley tunnels running for considerable and unlikely distances underneath the British countryside between prominent features of the landscape.[11] Alfred Watkins, in The Old Straight Track, suggests that they might be connected with leys. Michael Behrend in The Landscape Geometry of Southern Britain states that the tunnel in Cambridge linking Kings College Chapel to Granchester Manor is a ley.[12]
An example of a link between ley tunnels and ley lines has been suggested through the writings of the Rev William Beresford, Vicar of St Luke's, Leek, from 1882 to 1919. This keen antiquarian wrote about a "secret route" that went from Dieulacresse abbey in Leek, across Blackshaw Moor and ran towards Thorncliffe; this was not a true tunnel, but it was secret in that the track was sunk below ground level, allowing the monks in this instance to move about more or less hidden from the surrounding area.[13]
Blackness Castle in Lothian is said to have a tunnel linking it with the House of Binns, which lies about three kilometres distant from it.[10] A tunnel is said to run from Stanecastle near Irvine to Eglinton Castle and another from Stanecastle to Seagate Castle in Irvine, complete with a mythical piper.[15] Monkredding was a property of Kilwinning Abbey and a tunnel is said to link the two properties. Another tunnel is said to run from Stanecastle to Dundonald. A subterranean passage was found by workmen at Stanecastle in the 19th century.[16]
A tunnel is said to run from near Ravenscraig Castle down to the Annick Water just up stream of Lainshaw Castle. The tunnel was crawled through by the grandfather of a local man.[17] This tunnel may be related to the drainage of the nearby, now flooded, Hillhouse quarry, the Water Plantation area and other Lainshaw estate lands.
A tunnel is said to run from Loudoun Castle under the River Irvine to Cessnock Castle in Galston, East Ayrshire, Scotland.[18]
A tunnel is said to run from the old Giffen Castle near Beith to the now abandoned farm of Bank of Giffen; some years back some children are said to have found and made their way safely through the tunnel.
A secret or Ley tunnel is said to link Old Auchans and Dundonald Castle. A local loch was being drained through a ditch when it was observed that the water was vanishing into the earth; locals thought that the ley tunnel had been breached.[19]
Cleeves Cove cave, the site of the Elfhame is said to be connected to Loudoun Hill and once the Laird of Auchenskeichs (sic) Collie dog entered the cave at its entrance above the Dusk Water and came out at Loudoun Hill near Darvel, many miles away. The end of the Cleeve Cove system is said to have never been found.[20] Mauchline Castle is said to be linked to Kingencleugh Castle by a tunnel.[21]
A tunnel is said to run the one and a half miles from Craufurdland Castle to the Dean Castle in Kilmarnock, Ayrshire. It was used to provision the Dean Castle when it was besieged for several months in the time of Edward I and the troops only gave up when the besieged hung several freshly killed sheep over the wall and offered them to the attackers. The tunnel entrance was only blocked up in the early 19th century.[22] Cuthbertson records the tradition of a tunnel running from Dean Castle down to the Kilmarnock Water near the old Begbie's Tavern of Burn's fame. This tunnel is said to have become a public sewer.[23]
A local tradition was that an underground passage ran from Caldwell House to the old Lugton Inn (now demolished), under the Lugton Water. A search by owners in the cellars did not revealed any signs of a hidden passage.[24]
Persistent rumours exist of a tunnel which is said to run from Kilwinning Abbey, under the 'Bean Yaird', below the 'Easter Chaumers' and the 'Leddy firs', and then underneath the River Garnock and on to Eglinton Castle. No evidence exists for it, although it may be related to the underground burial vault of the Montgomeries which does exist under the old abbey[1] or to the main sewer that would have led from the monastery to the river.[25]
In the village of Carmunnock near Glasgow a tunnel is said to have connected the parish church with dwellings used by the monks on what is now Busby Road. No sign of the tunnel has yet been found.[26]
At Strathaven Castle in South Lanarkshire tunnels are recorded in local tradition as running from the castle to the Sweetie's Brae, Mill Brae, and the Tower. Road works in the 19th century did not reveal anything of their existence.
A tunnel is believed to exist beneath Culross Abbey in Fife and within is said to sit a man in a golden chair waiting to give valuable treasures to anyone who succeeds in finding him. Many years ago a blind piper decided to try and upon entering at Newgate with his dog he proceeded to search and could be heard playing his pipes as far as the West Kirk, three quarters of a mile away. Eventually the dog emerged into the daylight, however the piper was never seen, or heard of, again. The caves below Keil Point on Isle of Arran contain a slab which may have been an ancient altar. It has the prints of two right feet on it, said to be of Saint Columba.[27]
In the 19th century some women found the secret tunnel of Coupar Angus Abbey near the entrance to the churchyard. One went in and was never seen again, however in 1982 a local mason found the entrance again and went in some distance before finding a cave in. It is said that the tunnel ran a further two and a half miles to a souterrain at Pitcur.[28] Fingask Castle has underground passages, still partly open in 1766, said to run to Kinnaird Castle, two kilometres away.[29] A ley tunnel is said to run under the Tay between the hospital of Seggieden and the nunnery at Elcho.[30] Newton Castle in Blairgowrie is said to have a tunnel that runs to Ardblair.[31] Ashintully Castle in Strathadle and Glenshee has a tunnel linking it to its predecessor, Whitefield Castle.[32] In the Weem area Saint David's Well is said to have a cave beneath it which connects with another cave at Loch Glassie, two kilometres away.[33] At Monzievaird Castle in Strathearn a secret tunnel is said to run from the castle to the Turret Burn.[34]
Near Moniaive in Dumfries and Galloway a tunnel is said to have run from under the Caitloch bridge over the Dalwhat Water to Caitloch House, some distance away. The tunnel is said to have been used by Covenanters evading the King's Dragoons during those troubled days and is now blocked.[35]
Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran had a tunnel which apparently ran down to the shore in Brodick Bay. Circa 1920 the duchess was renovating the castle and had a hollow sounding section of wall opened up. This work quickly ceased when a story was remembered of two plague victims in the 18th century having been walled up in an old tunnel, first having been covered in quicklime and rubble.[36]
Gordon[37] in 1726 records that at Ardoch Roman Fort near Dunblane in Perth and Kinross a subterranean passage was said to run from the fort, under the River Tay, to the fort or 'Keir' on Grinnin Hill. This tunnel is said to contain a great deal of treasure as recorded in these lines;
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At Furness Abbey a tunnel has been said to run underneath the Abbey to both Piel Castle and Dalton Castle. This was said to be how the monks travelled to and from each monument to receive foodstuffs and keep watch upon the towns. It has also been rumoured that the Holy Grail and King John’s missing jewels, are actually hidden somewhere inside.[38]
Richmond Castle in North Yorkshire standing in an impressive cliff-top position overlooking the River Swale. A potter named Thompson is said to have discovered a tunnel entrance at the bottom of this cliff. Following it deep into the hillside, he came to a large cavern where slept King Arthur and his knights around the famous Round Table. On the table lay an ancient horn and a mighty sword. Thompson reached out and picked up the horn, but the sleepers began to awake and, fearing for his life, the potter fled. As he raced down the tunnel back to daylight and safety, he heard a voice behind him declare:
The tunnel appears to have been well known, though the cave remains hidden. A second story tells how this subterranean passage is supposed to run from the Castle to nearby Easby Abbey. Some soldiers once sent a drummer-boy along it to test the theory and followed the sound of his drum almost halfway to the Abbey. Then the drumming stopped! The boy was never seen alive again - but his ghost is said to haunt the tunnel from where a slow drumbeat is still sometimes heard. A memorial stone marks the spot at which the drum beat was last heard. It is believed that the legendary tunnel was constructed in medieval times as an escape route to the castle for the Abbot and Canons of the Abbey in case of an attack from the Scots, who were continually making raids into the northern counties of England.[39]
A smugglers' tunnel is said to run from Smugglers' Farm in Herstmonceux, Sussex to the Pevensey Marshes, a good distance away.[10] A whole network of secret Knights Templar tunnels are said to run beneath Hertford Castle, running to Dinsley and other local places.[10]
A 'secret tunnel' exists at Pevensey Castle in East Sussex, although not open for public access - it links the keep with the former market square and is thought to be Norman in origin, although was reused during WWII.
A series of tunnels are said to lie beneath Glastonbury Tor. The most famous tale is about a tunnel from Glastonbury Abbey to the Tor. At one time some thirty monks are rumoured to have entered the Tor via this tunnel, but only three came out again, two insane and one struck dumb.[40] Another legend which is widely believed is that of the long-distance tunnel leading from the crypt of the Lady (or Galilee) Chapel, under the River Brue to a distant point, possibly to the village of Street, where a passage exists from an outlying building in the grounds of the old manor house. A dog is said to have been put into the tunnel at Street and found his way out at the Glastonbury end.[12]
A tunnel is said to run from King's College Chapel to Granchester Manor, Cambridge, passing under the river Cam.[12]
Evidence of tunnels have recently been found beneath Saint Luke's, Leek's old church, reinforcing legends of a ley tunnel running from the church to Dieulacresse abbey.[13]
A tunnel is said to run from Newbury Town Hall to St Nicolas Church. This belief may have started because there are east west flowing brick victorian service tunnels running from roughly the Newbury arcade towards this church; these were exposed to the public's gaze during construction work. A tunnel is also said to run from Newbury Castle (400 ft above sea level) and Shaw House (260 ft, thus 140 ft below it). The point of entry is said to be hollow space (now blocked) in the south-east angle of the enclosure. In 1930 workmen investigated the legend by excavations of the entrance, but found nothing.[41]
At Necton in East Anglia a tunnel is said to run from the restored 14th century church of All Saints to Necton Hall, in possession of the Mason family since the time of Henry VII.[7]
The first of a number of legendary tunnels under Norwich leads from the Castle (TM232085) to the Guildhall (TM231085) near the market-place, erected 1407 - 13 on the site of the old tollhouse. It still has a 14th century vault below it, that was the crypt (and prison) of the former building. A second tunnel (in which a pig was once lost) heads from the Castle for Carrow Priory (TM242073 area), a Benedictine nunnery whose scant 12th century remains on the outskirts of Norwich are incorporated into a residence of the Colman family, near the junction of King Street and Bracondale. The third tunnel from the Castle ran to the Norman cathedral to the north-east (TM235089), begun in 1096 by Bishop Herbert de Losinga, and finally consecrated in 1101 - 2. Yet another subterranean way links the Castle with the Crown Derby near the Guildhall.[7]
At Norwich Cathedral another tunnel begins, running for about nine miles to the ruins of St. Benet's Abbey (TG383157) on the marshes at Ludham. A much shorter one, allegedly used by monks, was said to run from the cathedral to Samson & Hercules House. The Anglia Restaurant in Prince's Street has a splendid groined crypt for a cellar, and two tunnels from here are said to lead to the cathedral, and to St. Andrew's Hall. Monks supposedly used a tunnel from the cellars of the Shrub House at the corner of Charing Cross Street, to the site of St. Benedict's Gates.[7]
In early January 1644, Cromwell sent his forces to Norwich to demand the surrender of a small group of Royalists, whom he heard to be presently at the Maid's Head Hotel. According to legend, as the Parliamentarians entered the hotel, the Royalists retreated through a secret tunnel, stretching steel ropes across the way behind them. Many of Cromwell's men (and their horses) were beheaded as they raced through the tunnel in pursuit, and this incident is used to explain the sound of ghostly hoofbeats often heard emanating from under the ground around the Cathedral Close.[7][42]
One smugglers' tunnel was rumoured to run from Kinson, now a Bournemouth suburb, to the coast some four miles away.[43]
In the 19th century, it was said that an underground passage ran from the remains of the 12th century Gisborough Priory, immediately south of Guisborough parish church, to a field that lay in the parish of Tocketts. Halfway along was said to be a chest of gold guarded by a raven or crow.[44] In Cleveland almost every old castle and ruined monastery has its legend of a subterranean passage leading therefrom, which someone has penetrated to a certain distance, and has seen an iron chest, supposed to be full of gold, on which was perched a raven. The raven may suggest a Scandinavian origin of the legends.[45]
Bracknell's Old Manor is a beautiful 17th century brick manor house complete with priest hole. It is said to have secret passages connecting to various locations.[46]
Droitwich Spa is said to have a passageway that leads from St Augustine’s church, Dodderhill, to Friar Street in the town centre. A system of tunnels is said to run from there to St Augustine’s and St Andrew’s churches.[47]
The story that Thomas a Becket from Northampton Castle is a well documented part of 12th century history but how the persecuted Archbishop of Canterbury managed to flee from the fortress remains a mystery. One myth is that he fled from the clutches of Henry II through a tunnel that linked the castle to All Saints Church in Mercers Row.[48]
At Binham Priory in Norfolk a fiddler entered the tunnel which ran beneath the building and could be heard for some distance before suddenly ceasing. The fiddler was never seen again.[49]
The rhyme below dates from the 17th century and recalls the tradition that a tunnel connects what is now Syon House with the friary of Sheen at Richmond in Surrey, a considerable distance away.
The origin of the legend remains a mystery.[2]
In Leicestershire a subterranean passage is said to connect a nunnery which once stood near the Humber Stone with Leicester Abbey.[2] In the cellars under Leicester Castle a witch known as 'Black' or 'Cat Anna' is said to have lived. She is said to have journeyed to the Dane Hills through an underground passage.[50]
Local legend states that a tunnel connects the now ruined Court Farm with the nearby church in Pembrey, South Wales.
In Lurgan a tunnel supposedly went from Brownlow House to the local police station, the courthouse and to the church in the middle of the town. Another tunnel was from Soyes Mill to Lurgan Castle. One explanantion for the Brownlow tunnel was that Lord Brownlow had a very over protective wife, and after many years of a good marriage, things went sour, so Brownlow had this Tunnel dug so he would be able to exit the castle after dark without his wife finding out. Once out, he would go on the hunt for some Lurgan lassies, Book a room at the Ashburn Hotel, then leave early in the morning to get back in time for breakfast at the castle with the wife.[51] Lakafinna, to the South of Bullaun, has a castle and local folklore relates that a tunnel exists between this castle and the village of Ballyara.
In the city of Aalborg a tunnel is said to have run from the convent under the fjord to another convent near Sundby. This tunnel had branches which ran to an old bridge, two churches and to the castle of Aalborghus. A student once tried to explore the tunnels with a long cord, a sword and a light. The broken cord was retrieved, but the student was never seen again.[52]
A mysterious tunnel is said to run to Kniazh Hill that was used during emergencies by the Semashko Princes and the other owners of Gubkiv Castle, the powerful princes Danylovych. This tunnel, it is said, starts near the deep well in the castle yard.[53]
Ley tunnels differ from most of the numerous examples of actual secret passages and the like in that Ley tunnels are usually very long. Many examples of extensive underground passages do actually exist, built for a variety of purposes, however they often lack the link with churches, aristocracy, etc and do not necessarily involve prominent buildings.
An exception is the Ley tunnel that is said to run from the 'bottomless' Saint Michael's Cave in Gibraltar under the Strait of Gibraltar, exiting in Morocco, Africa.[54]
Drains, sewers and water supply tunnels often have a more than superficial resemblance to pedestrian tunnels and have added to legends of mysterious passages of secretive and ambiguous purposes.
An example of a medieval building with many subterranean passages is Prague Castle. In the Middle Ages underground passages were dug out mainly for purposes of defence and later drainage conduits sufficed to take the waste waters to the foot of the castle wall and then let it fall freely over the slope of the bare cliff face into the bed of the Brusnice stream. The inhabitants of the Castle complained of the smell of the slope, so two conduits were built as far as the Brusnice stream. One leads from Hradcany Square and the other, known as the castle passage, from the second Castle courtyard to the bottom of the Deer Moat.[55]
At Paisley Abbey in Scotland, few of the original monastic buildings survived into the 20th century, so landscaping of the area around the church in 1990 provided the ideal opportunity to investigate the positions of those now "lost". The main drain, which would have brought fresh water into the complex, and taken away the effluents, would have acted as the spinal column of the buildings. Local knowledge led to the rediscovery of a substantial medieval drain with fine stonework and enough space for a person to walk through.[56]
In Exeter, South Devon, medieval tunnels dating from the 14th century under the High Street are a unique ancient monument. The tunnels were built to house the pipes that brought fresh water to the city. These Underground Passages have long exercised a fascination over local people, bringing stories of buried treasure, secret escape routes, passages for nuns and priests - even a ghost on a bicycle. Their purpose was simple: to bring clean drinking water from natural springs in fields lying outside the walled city, through lead pipes into the heart of the city.[57]
Such tunnels may have led to the creation and survival of local legends of subterranean passages. An example of a well documented tunnels is the one dug at St Andrews in Scotland. Cardinal Beaton in March 1546, had the Protestant preacher, George Wishart, burnt at the stake in front of his castle walls and this was subsequently used as a pretext for Beaton's murder at the hands of local Protestant lairds who captured the castle by stealth. A long siege followed on the orders of the Regent, the Earl of Arran, however by November 1546 this had resulted in a stalemate. A determined effort to undermine the walls of the castle via a spacious tunnel large enough to take pack animals was intercepted, after several false starts, by the defenders. They dug a low, narrow and twisting countermine through the rock that eventually broke into the mine itself.[58]
Many medieval buildings are said to have had escape tunnels, secret by nature and hence likely to be the stuff of myth, legend and exaggeration. One example is the escape tunnel running from Maynooth Castle has its exit at the tower in Laraghbryan.[59] A short escape tunnel has been located at Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, which leads from the old kitchens to a 'tunnel-like' bridge over a burn. Other escape tunnels were longer, such as at Nottingham Castle, where the young king Edward III was imprisoned by Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March. In 1330 a small group of armed supporters of Edward III used a secret passage to attack Mortimer. The attackers entered through a long, winding secret passage which led directly into the castle, allowing them to surprise and capture Mortimer, releasing the king who was unharmed.[8]
Virtually every village close on or near the Southern coast of England has a local legend of a smugglers' tunnel; the entrances to most of the actual smuggler's tunnels have been lost or bricked up.
Some tunnel stories turn out to be very plausible, such as the tunnel at Hayle in Cornwall which really does seem to have been built specifically for smuggling. In other instances the tunnel either doubles as a storm drain or some other functional channel, or else is an extension of a natural fissure in the rock, as at Methleigh and Porthcothan respectively.[43]
Beith in North Ayrshire was a notorious haunt of smugglers at one time, and legend has it that a tunnel ran from the town centre down to Kilbirnie Loch.
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