The Mystery of the Missing Tunnel
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- Welcome to this weeks little mystery. One that's been bugging me for quite some time. Why is Tunnel Hill called so. That's seems like an obvious question so lets have a look at the Abandoned Salisbury and Southampton Canal in a little more detail.
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Next to Banff in Canada is a mountain called Tunnel Mountain. When the Canadian Pacific railroad was being surveyed through the area, the plan was originally to tunnel through the mountain and so that was what the mountain was called. Unfortunately, they quickly realised that it would be quicker/cheaper to build around the mountain and so the route was diverted, which left the mountain namede after a tunnel that was never built.
Also known as Buffalo Mountain from its shape. Stayed there in August for a few days.
There's an ornamental lake at Alderbury House on the opposite side of Tunnel Hill. I understand that this was a part of the canal and designed as a reservoir. I walked around it several years ago when the then owners opened the grounds for visitors. If you drive down Tunnel Hill there is a noticeable dip in the road just below the church where the earthworks finished. I'm convinced that a (short) tunnel was at least started if not completed to link the site you visited and the lake at Alderbury House. The other interesting local item is the Alderbury to Bournemouth railway for which there was a bridge over the main road just to the south of Whaddon Post office where the link to the present A36 joins the old road. Dave (from West Grimstead).
Alderbury House on Tunnel Hill Road, and the large estate around it, was built by George Yalden Fort around the same time. He was instrumental in the canal project.
From 'The Domestic Architecture of Benjamin Henry Latrobe' about George and the house:
'A successful Salisbury Merchant and entrepreneur, he skillfully augmented his family's landholdings and wealth. When he died, the Aldbury estate contained 300 acres, and he owned several hundred other acres of other properties in Wiltshire. Fort served as mayor of Salisbury in the late 1780's and became High Sheriff of Wiltshire in 1800...
'... George Yalden Fort also had a taste for speculation and visionary engineering projects. In 1770 he became the principal promoter of the Salisbury Canal scheme. The ambitious plan would have run a canal south from Salisbury for several mile through difficult terrain to connect with the then-building Andover canal, providing Salisbury access to the sea. Not only would this scheme have benefited Forts Salisbury business interests, but the proposed canal route crossed his Aldbury estate and would have provided a convenient outlet for his agricultural products. He integrated the canal into his picturesque landscaping plans by channeling it through a tunnel and damming it into an ornamental lake where it crossed his property within sight of his new house. The canal scheme ultimately failed, but by 1796 Fort had completed his new house and the lake and the tunnel that were to accommodate the canal.
Tunnel Hill road was a straighter version of the old approach road to the house.
Worth also noting the old church (the original on the site of the current one) lost a bit of its remaining crumbling tower around 1800.
That seems a compelling explanation. Also, from the website of the Southampton Canal Society " From Salisbury, the canal was to climb by 4 or 5 locks to the summit at Alderbury. There were to be two reservoirs feeding the summit level near Alderbury and West Grimstead. A short tunnel was to be built by cut and cover near Alderbury Church and a longer tunnel of about 100yds under the main Southampton to Salisbury road at Whaddon." Presumably the cut and cover tunnel at Tunnel Hill was to avoid spoiling the view across the West Lawn at Alderbury House.
Great to see Rebecca getting her own solo bits as well as pulling faces while Paul pontificates (which always cracks me up).
She has got a lovely expressive face. You just have to keep looking.
My Lady likes woodland adventures too.
@@TheDalaiLamaCon where do you go ....?
What a mystery! I love the way you try to unravel the past for us..thank you. Good to see Rebecca doing some reseach on her own...roll on the next video and thanks as always.
The Past and hiStory are two very different things.
@@telx2010 Do you mean what actually happened (fixed) and what is recorded to have happened (changeable) ?
@@philiptownsend4026 It looks as though we'll never know, unfortunately. I think you're right about what @telx2010 meant, though.
I got very excited when I saw you were doing this one. Only found my school project on the canal I did in the 70s a few days ago! I too spent many an hour wandering around Tunnel Hill trying to find a tunnel and I think your analysis is probably correct. Shame there are no more detailed historic records. Fascinating!
Your obvious joy at coming to a conclusion of what may have happened is so infectious. Great film.
I really feel that curved part of the field would hold some clues.
It's always interesting to learn the how and why of canals and railroads, and what happened to them over time. A hundred years from now Paul and Rebecca's grand-children will do a video on what happened to the HS rail line that never got built.
Lovely video, both of you. A real tunnel mystery! Many thanks.
Fascinating and comprehensive work as usual - the 'couple' dynamics always add a splash of reality to the work.
Great video .
On the National Library of Scotland site there are a couple of local maps that add a little information.
They are:
Wiltshire LXXII.1, Surveyed 1871.
Wiltshire LXXII.5, Surveyed 1876 to 1879.
Note that they are not the maps used for the overlay (which are later).
They show that more remained of the canal in the 1870s. It seems to peter out to the east of Rectory Farm. However there is no explanation of "Tunnel Hill Road" (which is not even named).
The Historic England entry for Alderbury House (Grade II*) is interesting.
It says:
"Country house. Late C18. For George Fort possibly by James Wyatt." ... "George Fort was a Salisbury hatter with some interests in the Salisbury Canal which was built in the area, shortly before the house, but never finished. The house stands in a landscaped park with a lake which formed part of the canal."
Much to ponder🤔
You have absolutely earned an interested and eager fan from Dallas, TX here. So interesting to see you retrace bits of history that often predates my nation’s existence!!
Keep up the amazing work.
One of the best for intrigue so far! I concur with the conclusions. Excellent!
I do so much enjoy your videos, the information and the conversations!
Thank you for getting out and making these amazing videos.
really admire your mutual tenacity on your outings. Wonderful viewing,
Thanks Paul
Fabulous one guys!
I enjoyed it very much! I do love a good tunnel mystery😂
hi again Paul and Rebecca , i enjoyed this one , really interesting , great drone shots as always , well done and thank you guys 😊
Just trying to follow you on google maps down tunnel hill. There is a canal lane as well. Now watching Martin zero. Thanks for another great video.
Almost at the bottom
Great fun you both have with your explores. So enjoyable to watch and listen to. Thank you,
One of the best videos so far, imo. Love the split exploring! Also love the dialogue edit.
A lovely piece of video - keep making them.
0:16 - A suggestion for a diversion, a video or 2 looking around inside all these wonderful ancient country churches. Beautiful buildings, great hand hewn details. We don't have much of this in the US :(
If you like delving into British history -- which is, after all, US history in so many ways -- you might want to hunt down episodes of _Time Team._ I discovered the brilliant BBC show during the unnerving Lockdown Era, and it helped keep me sane. If nothing else, it's fascinating to see the rapid progress of the tech used by archaeologists, geophysicists, and dendrochronologists over the 20 seasons. Yep, you read right. Twenty seasons it ran on BBC before the Beeb fouled up by shifting production to BBC Wales. A lot of the team, on-camera as well as off, declined to make the move, thus bagging a lot of accumulated years of experience in three-day outdoor location shoots. Now _Time Team_ has a couple of RUclips channels as well as a Patreon channel to support the new, still-impressive version of the show. They dig around, and tour us through, many churches during the shows.
Your videos often bring to mind Stewart Ainsworth's field walking on Time Team, which was always my favourite part of those programmes.
Loved those parts too. Perhaps the least scientific but perhaps the most useful!
Always thought Stewart’s landscape archaeologist role would be my dream job…. Still do! Not, I suspect, an easy thing to get into
Nice one guys. Wouldn't be the first time industrial enterprises try to preempt permission and start building before actually owing the land. What struck me was the OS map showing Alderbury Junction where the line of the A36 runs into the railway line, this follows the Alderbury bypass.This is where the old line from West Moors joins the Southampton to Salisbury line. Living in Ferndown I've ridden some of the route so it would be good to see you look at this one... maybe.
Passing thought: Did you ask any of the Locals? Local legends are not specifically trustworthy but generally are, you might hear three places where that tunnel was built and then you might hear, down in the local Pub, that it never was and see pictures of the Navies hanging on the wall, including some in the tunnel. Happens all the time. The oldest Pub you can find might be a good start.
Lots of info in this video, really enjoyed it. Thank you Paul and Rebecca
I think you two are right on the money re tunnel.
Costs would spiral and any prosperity would require getting much further west, I expect they just ran out of cash. Some of the best preserved canal route you’ve shown us for a while.
I was born in the village of FARLEY about 2 miles from Alderbury. Used to walk miles in that area as a child with my brother and never knew about this!
Really interesting look at our recent history. Funny how it only takes 200 years for things to just disappear back into nature. Thank you both for your efforts 👌
I like this channel. It’s very informative and quite interesting well done keep up the good work
10:09 was that the one when you ripped your jeans or shirt Paul? Did like the part when yourself and Rebecca split up. Brilliant Video.
Great stuff as always. getting more interesting each week at the moment.
Thanks again, you guys. I love your videos - I know this area well so great to learn more about it. Today 7/12/22 I was driving through the lanes east of Salisbury and by chance came across Tunnel Hill. You are absolutely correct about there being clearly a canal north of the lane and nothing south of it. Intriguing!
Firstly to say I love your videos and the quirky way you both present them: very appealing and natural. Secondly I love your investigations.... a bit of vicarious activity there as I wish I could do them! On this one have a look at NLS side by side viewer 25" SW England. You can see the canal running south from Alderbury in a cutting (now partly filled) then along the contour until it suddenly stops three fields west of Rectory Farm . The tunnel, never built, would have connected this to the deep cutting on the north with the wharf. The suggested story for tunnel hill is that there was or was planned to be a cut and cover tunnel beside Alderbury House to limit the canal's intrusion. The ornamental pond of the house is supposed to be part of the canal (it is at the same height as the canal and on its proposed course). Keep up the good work!
Excellent work guys. Looking forward to the Wessexway podcast Paul..
Enjoyed that, thanks both! The map updates really helped me keep up with the narration.
Good thinking Sherlock. Got to love those mysteries. 👍
another excellent video ....i love it, it makes my weekend complete !!!
What a shame about the bridge. Mind you how boggy that area it may have kept falling in on itself. Just loved that thanks guys. Thanks for taking me along. Take care
Definitely the best canal contours I have seen, shame you couldn't find anymore. Great research however 👍
A well explained video. Thanks so much. See you on the next. Cheers mates! ❤😊
Great video
Great video. Are you guys just using GoPros now? The sound and stabilisation seem pretty good - might have to look at this.
great one guys many thanks
Rebecca’s gurns, grins and grimaces are so enchanting.
I enjoyed this one, particularly the comments adding to the story.
There are a couple of lost tunnels near me; the Lapal tunnel near Halesowen and the one on the Tenbury to Bewdley canal. The Lapal tunnel did get built, and was used until its collapse in the 1950s. The trough of the canal can be traced through much of the route - there is still water in it in places - but the tunnel is lost without trace due to subsequent earthworks burying it's mouths. I've tried to find the entrances using old OS maps, but with no success.
The other tunnel, on the Tenbury & Bewdley is more interesting. The cut started from the Tenbury (western) end and was to dive under the sandstone ridge on the west side of the Severn, then descent to the river at Bewdley via an inclined plane. Well, it got as far east as Mamble, and the tunnel was begun - half way through the roof collapsed, and so did the company. Local legend is that some of the workers. crushed by the fall, are still down there. The inclined plane was never started.
The canal was worked for some decades until bought by the GWR; some parts of the route were adapted to have the Bewdley - Tenbury - Wooferton railway built on it, and the rest abandoned. You can still walk a great deal of its length, and see a great many remains, including a railway cutting near Neen Sollars which cuts through the trough at right angles. I doubt it will ever see anyone try to restore it! You'd love it! PS Have you tried tracking the equally lost Somerset Coal Canal in the Mendips?
The Lapal tunnel collapsed in 1917 and was never reopened. If you look on the website of the Lapal Canal Trust, you will find out a lot more about the projected restoration. Paul and Rebecca did a video on the Lapal canal a few months ago
Salisbury had a link to the sea via the Avon Navigation to Christchurch but this had become defunct by the mid-18th Century. Southampton was becoming the main port by then, hence the desire for the canal. It was (I believe) completed to a navigable standard as far as Alderbury but, as it was being funded by private subscription, the cost of overcoming Alderbury Hill proved unsustainable. Preliminary work west of the hill were abandoned and construction was terminated. Basically, they ran out of money. That, at least, is the version vaguely current in the area twenty years ago. I once traced the cut to south-east of Alderbury but was unaware of any visible remnants to the west. Thanks for that even though I now live on the other side of the country.
A nice little Mystery tunnel... 😉🤔🚂🚂🚂
Mr P: "If there wasn't a tunnel, you wouldn't call this Tunnel Hill Road"
Me: 'What about 'Two Sheds' Jackson?
Paul, I'm starting a fund to get you a new jumper. Enjoyed the split-up-to-cover-more-ground action!
Great video
Well done 👏
I reckon that would be an interesting place to use geophysics around the areas where a suspected tunnel portal might be incorporated with an archaeological dig to see if any masonry survives under the top soil!
Well done guys!! great content and I hope you get a conclusion. Thanks 😀
Did you know it is International Tunnel Day today?! Great video as usual
I love your enthusiasm, have you ever considered doing some GHQ lines? the one here in Tilford is speckled with WW2 relics for you to discover. I worked on restoring the Hampshire end of the Basingstoke Canal its amazing how much is hidden still today from flashes to cuts seemingly going no-where but of course, back in the past manufacturing existed where the materials were not like today where materials are moved to factories situated on major roads with easy access. Keep up the good work and have an early Christmas wish to you both.
Been watching for a few years but only just subscribed. I've just looked at the 'Bristol Know Your Place' maps which extend into Wiltshire and seem to show more detail than the Scotland maps. They show the canal extending past the road and also an 'old canal' on the other side of the river Avon branching off near Longford Castle. Could the canal have gone down the hill and joined the Avon at some point? Another great video. Thanks
Could the suspected tunnel under the road be leading to the man made looking lake to the south? Maybe a drainage culvert or a standing pond for the canals?
I think your assumption that the tunnel was abandoned is probably pretty good. Looking at the contours from the wharf to the other end of the supposed tunnel its about the same at 165ASL. On both sides of the supposed tunnel its either marshland at the wharf end and loads of navigation channels at the other so the water table would be pretty high. I'd imagine building a tunnel would have been a nightmare! I've been meaning to get out looking for this canal, you've saved me a job!!
Good piece of detective work!
Actually the tunnel was later sold and moved to the Grand Union canal near Tring
They may well have abandoned the tunnel at the drawing board stage.
In Victoria there is a town where, until recently, the local pub was called the Railway Junction Hotel, as one candidate for the House of Representatives had promised a railhead and a sanatorium nearby, so a prospective publican decided to get in first and name their establishment as if the proposed railhead was right next door.
It never happened, and for over a hundred years the town had a Railway Junction Hotel when the closest right-of-way passed by over a hundred miles away...
Loved the video, but browsing the location on Google maps, there are several tree’d areas and bodies of water that makes it look like the canal around the town, and as for the Tunnel, perhaps this was intended in going under the church as there’s something in the hedges south of the church and no not the brown box.
not sure if u get to read all this comments, but I would really love to know, where u guys are coming from. I study civil engineering and want to specialize into canal and water work.
And besides the obvious difference between GB and Germany, where do u find this maps and how do u prepare for such an interesting Video :). Or is it mostly post production effort?
Awesome, but no quicks sands. "Underlying geological problems" might be a better turn of phrase. I love your videos, with the questions you pose and investigations you present. Great stuff! Power to you both.
Very entertaining! 5 stars out of 5 🙂
I really enjoy these
“A bit hicklty picklty” single most British thing I’ve heard this year
The term "higgledy-piggledy" is absolutely very Brit. It's right up there with the expression, "everything went pear-shaped."
How about a video on the railway station that never was at Lockerley? There’s a double video there as you can cover some of the old canal that runs though east Dean.
The word tunnel is from the French for Net and/or Cask mangled together in a way only the english (15th century) could do. It would of been used for Decoying, the catching of migrant birds of off wetlands. I'm not convinced a tunnel was even planned, the hill to go round is simply too smaller obstacle and the new 50cm definition Lidar maps of the area show a distinct route for the canal well beyond the small lake at Alderbury House.
Fascinating detective work in difficult terrain. According to Historic England, the lake near Tunnel Hill, was part of the canal. It stands in the grounds of the 18C Alderbury House, which was built for Geo Fort, a Salisbury hatter, who apparantly had an interest in the Salisbury Canal. So I wonder if there is a connection between Alderbury Ho., Geo. Fort, and the Canal/Tunnel - which the records seem to suggest, was never built. Thanks for a really interesting video.
Yes it was the course of the canal is shown on the local tithe map
Amazing 👏
10:33 - Wouldn't have been very efficient, but perhaps they portaged over the hill to the canal on the west side of town, thinking it was temporary until the tunnel or deviation was completed?
Great mystery… maybe, just maybe, there were subversive types in the early 19th century changing the name of roads and building spurious earthworks knowing that 200 years later, they would confuse intrepid explorers! 😜
Part of the canal was back-filled by the Southampton Council in 1846, And the Tunnel at Aderbury was left to infill after the alignment was altered for a new Tunnel for the Railway that replaced the Canal.
"New tunnel fornthe railway"?... which tunnel is that?
@@pwhitewick HI, The Salisbury and Dorset Railway, later the LS&WR, a bit further east on a different alignment heading south south east. I know records from that era can be a bit scarce, but the 1900 25inch SW map shows the canal stopping at the road clearly. The canal restarts further south, and appears to be filled in by the mid sixties. Looking at the contour lines, I would say that the railway was put through higher than a tunnel would be cut at, and it was backfilled before finishing it, or later opened up into a cutting.. Perhaps a money saving idea. Surviving records suggest the canal was never finished, so perhaps no tunnels were dug at all! I am not questioning your research, as your railway trips are usually pretty accurate. I have a large collection of old railway history books, a hobby of mine is researching old railways and other historical features. When I lived in Redruth in Cornwall, I did all the local Mining History and tramways. Even the locals claimed that I knew more than they did, but often people are unaware of their local heritage. Best regards, Paul.
Tunnel Hill doesn’t always mean a tunnel underground. Some roads, especially narrow roads from the 17th and 18th century, were named that way because the trees planted either side eventually reached a height that the canopy’s touched making the road look like an above ground tunnel.
Thanks for this
Things get so very overgrown and covered in no time well done on your great efforts detective work very taxing work,may I say how well dressed you are for rough ramblers in rough terrain a tough trail your often on ,take care both ,is it cold for you.if you wore camo fatigues we would never see you lol😂
Oohhh very interesting! It's a shame things didn't continue.
Subtitles need a bit of work though, all this talk of topaz (towpaths), souls (Salisbury) and hickory (higgedly) is leaving me perplexed! 😜
where u walk across the little bridge away from the road the little stream is one side of the bank(that stream is at least 5ft deep and the bridge goes onto the infill, there is a railway earth work near to the bypass with all the rail ballast (i also found a fishplate recently in the woods metal detecting)
Doing some google map searching might suggest that the wharf was actually the other side of the road. The bit you found that came to a sudden stop. In addition, there are some straight line features which seem to go around the base of the hill (in an overall semi-octagonal shape) from the "extended wharf" that meet up with an ornamental lake (mentioned by others) around to the base of tunnel hill. If I were to take a wild guess I'd say it was either never fully completed or it never lasted long enough to make a permanent impression.
I had to go to railmap online and look at, as it got me thinking. Weird I thought as well looking on there as it shows the canal ending at Tunnel Hill Rd.
A very informative vlog ..however I find it such a shame that we have lost so much of our industrial heritage .
You have much more heritage left than we do in the US!
XXX THANKS. YOU MAKE ME SMILE. Your presentations are amazing. Come to my fantasy dinner party.
I learned what fly tipping is from this video. 😀
Very interesting video once again. On the subject of place names and where they come from the old English word Tunnel derives from a tubular bird catching net, or decoy. It is possible that this is where the name comes from and the low marsh area could be the remains of the decoy pond?
I love you folks try and figure stuff out. Yet, I'm going to have to state the obvious. Just because you find a trench, ditch, or even a hollow in the landscape does not imply a canal, road, or tunnel. You mentioned a boggy bit of ground where you hypothesize the start of a tunnel. My question is where is the spoil heap? Not unless you are doing something with it, you don't move it very far.
Brilliant video as always. :)
Intriguing 👍
On the 1873-1888 OS 25 inch map of Alderbury there is "Gravelpit Plantation" Old Gravel Pit.
Similar situation in the Adirondack Mountains. There's a valley/coll called Railroad Notch (west of Keene) that was surveyed for a railroad line that was never built. The name is on the USGS maps to this day.
This was a really interesting video, it's a shame you couldn't find more evidence to support your theory. I look forward to seeing you both next week.
We have a station road we're I live ; but never any station so your theory sounds good
Ooooh..... pray tell more.
@@pwhitewick chobham . Surrey
It was named in anticipation of the arrival of the Staines, Wokingham & Woking Junction Railway.
There is one in Portsmouth as well. Station Road, Copnor, the station was planned but never built.
You should try asking the locals.
You could do with a small magnetometer to locate brickworks underground..it would show you where the earth has been disturrbed....have you tried library for old maps and plans etc?
it makes so much sense both ways - do you think both of you were born too late - say like a few hundred years earlier?
Very mysterious
On the Bing maps Road overlay you can see the cuts of the canal following the contours from the wharf to the area around tunnel hill.
Nice to see Rebecca back. Has she been skiving? 😂
I'll get my coat...
Rebecca, nice colorful outfit.