To view the video in full screen, view directly on YouTube: https://youtu.be/7TbZG-ucD_g
Last month in our Banqueting Hall update we said about the discovery of a deep trench that we thought would go across the Banqueting Hall towards the opposite wall.
We have always suspected that on the other side of the Banqueting Hall wall, there is in fact another chamber or passage which was suggested on Army Plans, see our Map. So what is this chamber, where will it take us and will it be filled in with infill just like Paddington and Banqueting Hall were? We hope to know soon…
Well I am delighted to report that having continued to excavate this trench, to the far side we have in fact found a long lost tunnel in the wall of the Banqueting Hall.
The trench looks to have been designed to include a brick arch roof across the top, but not for its entire length. Though it is not certain that this Arch was ever fitted. Half way along the trench, there is a junction which heads back towards the Gash. This has yet to be emptied, but will be working on doing this in the next few weeks. The trench continues across the Banqueting Hall from the “Gothic Arch” to the New Tunnel and in this distance the floor level of the trench slopes down, quite steeply at the Tunnel end. It is quite probable that this trench would have been a water drainage channel.
The Tunnel itself is approx. 5ft high, extending into the Bedrock Wall of the Banqueting Hall for around 3ft. where at its end is a brick wall. The interesting thing about this wall is that it appears to have been bricked up from not within the Banqueting Hall but the other side of the Tunnel in the Chamber or passage beyond…
At the end of the day, we tried to drill through the wall to see through to other side, though unfortunately our drill wasn’t long enough.
Watch this space to see what is on the other side of the Banqueting Hall Wall and where this tunnel will lead us…
You can take a look at the Friends of Williamson’s Tunnels YouTube Channel here:
[…] will probably have read about our exciting new find in the Banqueting Hall. Where we have uncovered a Rock Cut tunnel down within a Trench in the floor […]