The Explore:
Myself and a couple friends had only been exploring for a few months when we found this location. We were out one weekend exploring tunnels in the Northfleet area. While searching, we found a blocked entrance with a small unlined chalk tunnel leading off into the cliff behind it.
With a little effort we managed to squeeze inside the entrance. The tunnel leading off was only a few feet high, so being new to the hobby crawling on our hands and knees into the unknown certainly got the heart racing. We crawled for around 10m until the adit we were in dropped off into a larger tunnel below. We looked down in excitement at what we’d stumbled across. After some discussion we decided not to attempt the climb down and instead to come back with some equipment. We went home that evening and between us bought a length of rope and a rope ladder.
We went back the next weekend and successfully made it down into the larger tunnel. The tunnel consisted of a long central stretch around 3m wide and 4m high. The majority is unlined chalk with several sections reinforced with brick. Each end of this main tunnel is blocked by large impassable steel plates, with one fully lined end featuring a WW2 era Blast wall. In addition to the adit we entered through, there are a further two lengthy adits at roof level that can be explored. Both are blocked at the ends and seemingly used to reach the surface level of Northfleet high street.
After an unforgettable explore we went home and researched what we’d found. We quickly discovered that judging by it’s size and location we’d only seen one half of the tunnel. We went back again the following weekend and after a little searching found the entrance to the second half.
This section was much the same as the first, featuring a single large unlined main tunnel with brick reinforcements at either end. In this section there's another long adit to be explored, along with an intersecting concrete structure that cut across the roof of the tunnel. This concrete structure has a small hole in just big enough to squeeze through, but was out of our reach. A short while later we returned once again, this time with an extendable ladder. After a very tight squeeze we made it into the small over passage. This passage wasn’t big enough to stand in and went on for around 50m in either direction, with each end blocked by brick walls.
This was an explore we certainly won’t forget. To find a location like this so early in our exploring days was exciting and pushed us to go out and discover more.
__________
The History:
The area of land between Northfleet high street and the bank of the river Thames was quarried for chalk since the early 19th century. The 1870s was a particularly busy period for cement production in the area. Three companies, Bevans, London Portland Cement, and Crown Portland Cement were simultaneously quarrying chalk and producing Cement. By this point most of the available chalk had already been taken from north of the high street, so the companies had to go further inland to quarry more. In the late 1870s the three companies came up with a solution, and each dug a tunnel under Northfleet High street to their new chalk quarries to the south.
London Portland Cement excavated a 180m long tunnel under a road named The Hill at the East end of Northfleet high street. (HER: TQ 67 SW 249) This tunnel led into a large new area of excavation to the south of St Botolph’s churchyard. At the same time the Bevans Cement company dug another tunnel under the high street around 450m west of the first. (HER: TQ 67 SW 252) This linked their riverfront site to their new Ebbsfleet quarries. Both tunnels were fitted out with Tram tracks so Chalk from the ever expanding quarries could be loaded into carts and moved towards the cement works nearer the river. The third company, Crown Portland Cement, dug a tunnel underneath the high street in between the two, around 200m west of the first. (HER: TQ 67 SW 250) This was a road tunnel with no tram track, going into a smaller plot of quarried land to the west of St Botolph’s church.
A fourth tunnel was then dug to link up the works even further. This time it ran East/West under the high street in line with the road itself. It started in an older quarry to the East of The Hill, it then intersected with the Portland and Crown tunnels, then exited not far from the entrance to the Bevans tunnel in a small clearing. The intersecting tunnel was laid with tram tracks and remained in use until the late 1920s serving the different cement works on the site.
Following the start of World War 2 there became the need for Air Raid Shelters to protect the factory workers and local population of Northfleet. The four intersecting tunnels were converted into a large air raid shelter by adding blast walls at all the exposed ends. They were fitted out with areas for seating, sleeping and Elsan chemical toilets. This Air Raid Shelter is believed to be “The Hill Second World War public Air Raid Shelter Tunnel” (HER: TQ 67 SW 1258)
After the end of the war the tunnels returned into use by the two cement companies on the site at the time, Northfleet Cement and Bevans. In the 1970s each of the three North/South tunnels were expanded and lined with concrete, blocking the original entrances to the intersecting East/West tunnel in the process. The East/West tunnel remains underground in two separate sections. One running between the Portland tunnel and the Crown Tunnel. The other between the Crown Tunnel and the clearing near the Bevans tunnel.
In 2022 Due to the ongoing housing development nearby this location became harder to visit. It’s likely when the houses are built this will be well sealed, if it hasn’t been already.
__________
The Pictures.
Myself and a couple friends had only been exploring for a few months when we found this location. We were out one weekend exploring tunnels in the Northfleet area. While searching, we found a blocked entrance with a small unlined chalk tunnel leading off into the cliff behind it.
With a little effort we managed to squeeze inside the entrance. The tunnel leading off was only a few feet high, so being new to the hobby crawling on our hands and knees into the unknown certainly got the heart racing. We crawled for around 10m until the adit we were in dropped off into a larger tunnel below. We looked down in excitement at what we’d stumbled across. After some discussion we decided not to attempt the climb down and instead to come back with some equipment. We went home that evening and between us bought a length of rope and a rope ladder.
We went back the next weekend and successfully made it down into the larger tunnel. The tunnel consisted of a long central stretch around 3m wide and 4m high. The majority is unlined chalk with several sections reinforced with brick. Each end of this main tunnel is blocked by large impassable steel plates, with one fully lined end featuring a WW2 era Blast wall. In addition to the adit we entered through, there are a further two lengthy adits at roof level that can be explored. Both are blocked at the ends and seemingly used to reach the surface level of Northfleet high street.
After an unforgettable explore we went home and researched what we’d found. We quickly discovered that judging by it’s size and location we’d only seen one half of the tunnel. We went back again the following weekend and after a little searching found the entrance to the second half.
This section was much the same as the first, featuring a single large unlined main tunnel with brick reinforcements at either end. In this section there's another long adit to be explored, along with an intersecting concrete structure that cut across the roof of the tunnel. This concrete structure has a small hole in just big enough to squeeze through, but was out of our reach. A short while later we returned once again, this time with an extendable ladder. After a very tight squeeze we made it into the small over passage. This passage wasn’t big enough to stand in and went on for around 50m in either direction, with each end blocked by brick walls.
This was an explore we certainly won’t forget. To find a location like this so early in our exploring days was exciting and pushed us to go out and discover more.
__________
The History:
The area of land between Northfleet high street and the bank of the river Thames was quarried for chalk since the early 19th century. The 1870s was a particularly busy period for cement production in the area. Three companies, Bevans, London Portland Cement, and Crown Portland Cement were simultaneously quarrying chalk and producing Cement. By this point most of the available chalk had already been taken from north of the high street, so the companies had to go further inland to quarry more. In the late 1870s the three companies came up with a solution, and each dug a tunnel under Northfleet High street to their new chalk quarries to the south.
London Portland Cement excavated a 180m long tunnel under a road named The Hill at the East end of Northfleet high street. (HER: TQ 67 SW 249) This tunnel led into a large new area of excavation to the south of St Botolph’s churchyard. At the same time the Bevans Cement company dug another tunnel under the high street around 450m west of the first. (HER: TQ 67 SW 252) This linked their riverfront site to their new Ebbsfleet quarries. Both tunnels were fitted out with Tram tracks so Chalk from the ever expanding quarries could be loaded into carts and moved towards the cement works nearer the river. The third company, Crown Portland Cement, dug a tunnel underneath the high street in between the two, around 200m west of the first. (HER: TQ 67 SW 250) This was a road tunnel with no tram track, going into a smaller plot of quarried land to the west of St Botolph’s church.
A fourth tunnel was then dug to link up the works even further. This time it ran East/West under the high street in line with the road itself. It started in an older quarry to the East of The Hill, it then intersected with the Portland and Crown tunnels, then exited not far from the entrance to the Bevans tunnel in a small clearing. The intersecting tunnel was laid with tram tracks and remained in use until the late 1920s serving the different cement works on the site.
Following the start of World War 2 there became the need for Air Raid Shelters to protect the factory workers and local population of Northfleet. The four intersecting tunnels were converted into a large air raid shelter by adding blast walls at all the exposed ends. They were fitted out with areas for seating, sleeping and Elsan chemical toilets. This Air Raid Shelter is believed to be “The Hill Second World War public Air Raid Shelter Tunnel” (HER: TQ 67 SW 1258)
After the end of the war the tunnels returned into use by the two cement companies on the site at the time, Northfleet Cement and Bevans. In the 1970s each of the three North/South tunnels were expanded and lined with concrete, blocking the original entrances to the intersecting East/West tunnel in the process. The East/West tunnel remains underground in two separate sections. One running between the Portland tunnel and the Crown Tunnel. The other between the Crown Tunnel and the clearing near the Bevans tunnel.
In 2022 Due to the ongoing housing development nearby this location became harder to visit. It’s likely when the houses are built this will be well sealed, if it hasn’t been already.
__________
The Pictures.
