History
Construction of the Monkton Farleigh Down tunnel was started in 1937 and completed in 1941 as part of a project to create an ammunition supply on the railway sidings of Farliegh down. The idea being that it provided a secure route of transporting ammunition that would be invisible to any kind of air reconnaissance.
The tunnel itself is 1.25miles long and runs at an uphill gradient of 1:8. It used a system of narrow gauge tracks to transport the stored ammunition up and down from the large sorting yard at the beginning of the underground section. The long uphill tunnel section used a series of conveyor systems to move the stored ammo up and down.
The Explore
I visited here with Brewtal and a friend who lived locally and hadn't done much exploring before.
The gradient of 1:8 is a good work out, especially if you walk the entire length of the tunnel. It took about 20 minutes to get all the way to the end.
There is a small hole in the wall that apparently takes you to Browns Folly mine. Its a petty small hole but I could just about squeeze myself halfway through to take a look through to the other side.
Frustratingly a pile of metal parts and machinery has been dumped directly over the other side, making it a daunting and claustrophobic prospect to get through. I'm sure you could if you really wanted to, but I didn't fancy it.
The walk back was a lot easier being downhill, and when we finally the glow of daylight we started to here voices of people at the mouth of the tunnel. They must have heard us too because they shouting down to us to say hello.
For some reason I decided that 'Hello! We are not Murderers!' was the most appropriate response.
They turned out to be people doing an 'Urban Photoshoot'. So we had a good chat then then went on our merry way.
A pretty rad explore overall!
Photos
The sorting yard
The beginning of the long tunnel section
Fun Fact: The nearest Morrisons is 3 miles away. This is some serious commitment right here.
A few original markings on the wall.
This is about half way where the tunnel goes from square to rounded.
And finally the brick wall at the end.
Construction of the Monkton Farleigh Down tunnel was started in 1937 and completed in 1941 as part of a project to create an ammunition supply on the railway sidings of Farliegh down. The idea being that it provided a secure route of transporting ammunition that would be invisible to any kind of air reconnaissance.
The tunnel itself is 1.25miles long and runs at an uphill gradient of 1:8. It used a system of narrow gauge tracks to transport the stored ammunition up and down from the large sorting yard at the beginning of the underground section. The long uphill tunnel section used a series of conveyor systems to move the stored ammo up and down.
The Explore
I visited here with Brewtal and a friend who lived locally and hadn't done much exploring before.
The gradient of 1:8 is a good work out, especially if you walk the entire length of the tunnel. It took about 20 minutes to get all the way to the end.
There is a small hole in the wall that apparently takes you to Browns Folly mine. Its a petty small hole but I could just about squeeze myself halfway through to take a look through to the other side.
Frustratingly a pile of metal parts and machinery has been dumped directly over the other side, making it a daunting and claustrophobic prospect to get through. I'm sure you could if you really wanted to, but I didn't fancy it.
The walk back was a lot easier being downhill, and when we finally the glow of daylight we started to here voices of people at the mouth of the tunnel. They must have heard us too because they shouting down to us to say hello.
For some reason I decided that 'Hello! We are not Murderers!' was the most appropriate response.
They turned out to be people doing an 'Urban Photoshoot'. So we had a good chat then then went on our merry way.
A pretty rad explore overall!
Photos
The sorting yard
The beginning of the long tunnel section
Fun Fact: The nearest Morrisons is 3 miles away. This is some serious commitment right here.
A few original markings on the wall.
This is about half way where the tunnel goes from square to rounded.
And finally the brick wall at the end.
