In the early 19th century, tobacco merchant Joseph Williamson started building houses near his home in Liverpool. By the time he died in 1840, one legacy of the ‘King of Edge Hill’ was a labyrinth of mysterious underground tunnels.
Some speculate that he was a religious extremist obsessed with Armageddon; others that he was a philanthropist who simply wished to employ soldiers home from the Napoleonic Wars.
There’s no map and no one yet knows how far the tunnels stretch, but, for decades, the Friends of Williamson’s Tunnels have been clearing rubble.
Visitors can enter through a trapdoor and explore the complex, including a 64ft ‘banqueting hall’ and the triple-decker ‘Paddington Tunnels’.
See more of Secret Britain
The story of the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior, the brainchild of a Liverpool curate that touched the world
A century on from its inauguration, the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior still has the power to move us —
St George's Hall: Why the world’s greatest neo-Classical building isn’t in London, Paris or Rome — it’s in Liverpool
The combined demand for a concert hall and a set of law courts in the burgeoning Atlantic port of Liverpool
Credit: Paul Highnam / Country Life Picture Library
The Cathedral of Christ, Liverpool: The fascinating story of Britain's largest cathedral
The architect who created the red telephone kiosk and the London power station today occupied by Tate Modern also designed
-
You can now rent King William IV’s former home in London’s Mayfair — for a princely sumThe London property — with royal lineage — is on the market with the estate agency Wetherell for £25,000 a week.
-
Guy Ritchie: 'My mother married an impoverished aristocrat with a knackered country pile. I've been chasing that dream ever since'The film maker opens up about his love for the countryside, and his friendship with Sir David Beckham.
-
St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, Heysham: The mythical Lancashire ruins with a heavenly viewAnnunciata Elwes takes a look at St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, a Morecambe Bay landmark.
-
Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance villageBeauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance
-
Covehithe beach, Suffolk, where the cliffs crumble like cakeThe most eroded beach in Britain has a post-apocalyptic feel.
-
Clydach Ironworks, Monmouthshire: Ruins in the gorge that inspired ShakespeareAn oasis of quiet now stands where the steam hammers thudded at this Welsh ironworks, in a river valley that may have moved Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
-
Royston Cave, Hertfordshire: A mysterious site full of sacred energyOur Secret Britain series continues with a Hertofrdshire cave whose true nature remains unknown.
-
John Bunting War Memorial Chapel, Scotch Corner: The painstaking transformation of rubble to War MemorialAnnunciata Elwes celebrates the effort that turned a derelict house into a memorial.
-
The Garden of Cosmic Speculation: The surreal space where Lewis Carroll and Willy Wonka meet Capability BrownSurrealism, philosophy, nature and gardening come together at the Garden of Cosmic Speculation, as Annunciata Elwes explains.
-
The Airman’s Grave, Ashdown Forest: A touching and little-known memorial to victims of war and fateA wartime tragedy in East Sussex's Ashdown Forest is among our Secret Britain picks, as chosen by Annunciata Elwes.
