This public air raid shelter is one of a number commissioned by Surrey Council just before the beginning of WW2. It is similar in layout and construction as the Foxenden Quarry and Coulsdon shelters, some sections being lined with brick or corrugated steel and other parts remaining unlined. The system of parallel tunnels are accessed via a long passage in a deep cutting of the hillside. After having abandoned for many years, the tunnels are now in the hands of an airsoft group, who are maintaining the tunnels and use them for games.
Many thanks to the owners for allowing this visit.
Many thanks to the owners for allowing this visit.
Site plan of the tunnels
Detailed Surrey Council Plan
The entrance, in a deep cutting in a wooded area
Just inside the entrance
Party lined tunnel section
Toilet cubicles
Unlined tunnel supported by brick
Another unlined chalk section
Another steel lined section
Further in...
Unlined chalk tunnel
Section lined in brick
Another unlined section
Another lined section
Another tunnel section
Variation in lining on roof
20 comments:
great seeing the inside lit up because the last time i was in there in the 70's was by torchlight with my friends peter, charlie and steve.
i used to sneak into the tunnels with a small torch, i never dreamt the tunnels were so extensive..
i have told my 11yr old lad of my escapades..
is there any other entrances
Hi
My name is james i love the site its great,i am a media student making a short film and would love to use the tunnel for one of my shots.Who do i see about this?
James.
Hi, well you could try Elite Airsoft, who are the owners!
http://www.eliteactiongames.com/epsom/index.html
Colin
In the mid 70s I took my boys (aged ca 7 and 11) into the tunnel on a hot sweltering summer's day with the help of a torch; normally the tunnel entrance was locked. It was very cold inside. At one stage one of the boys suddenly fell into an open hole, possibly a drain. Fortunately, we were holding one another's hands and I was able to pull him out without injury to him. Without any light, apart from the torch, it was very easy to become disorientated. I recall seeing a ventilation outlet at the end of a right turn which allowed a shaft of light into that part of the tunnel and, also, a row of about 15 toilets, all smashed up by a previous visitor. After emerging back into the hot sunlight and, because of the obvious hazard to children, I reported to the police the fact that the heavy metal doors were unlocked. After several weeks the doors were again locked but, not before a boy entered the tunnels and couldn't find his way out. It was only by shouting through the ventilation opening that somebody who happened to be walking along the footpath leading to the fields, that he was rescued. He had a narrow escape because very few people ever used the footpath, only the occasional dog walker.
i live on this road :) right opposite my house!
I'm sure I read somewhere that there were plans to turn it into a secure storage. Like an underground vault
Bunny.........would that be Peter Hughes.....Charlie Clark and Steve Dickinson ?..... Francis Jordan and Kevin Palmer and Nick Crombie and Simon Muir too
Knew it was somewhere off Ashley Road and was told it went underground to the fort at Reigate Hill. Presume that is incorrect. Wasn't aware of where the entrance was though.
I thought it was originally built as a Mausoleum by Lord Roseberry but got taken over by the war. I remember that in the 60's a tree fell down which opened up the back exit. The "toilets" for the hospital were very narrow as they were designed to take coffins end on. There are a lot of passages in the chalk under Epsom and I would not be surprised if unseen extension has occurred.
Where along Ashley road is it located
Where on Ashley road is it
How can I find the entrance
Have you found out where the entrance is?
Ashley Road towards epsom from the downs 200yds after mini round about on left,twin gates. On foot from chalk Lane follow the public foot path a Ross the horse fields and you can walk straight in to the walkway to the door, firstwqent in 20 years ago, remember rows of toilets and baths, lot of bricked up passages.. It's now lit.. More recently since the air soft guys took over. Its on BBC I player, Liam and lynn don't tell the bride filmed q bit in there 4 years ago
As a local girl in the 60’s and 70’s I was a regular visitor with 2 friends. Originally, before the steel gate was put in there was a deep ditch with a tiny oval shaped hole at one end where you squeezed in feet first and slid down a bank of mud till you hit the floor. I remember well the dark damp air, bricked walks, toilets and the shaft down the corridors to the right that let in a tiny ray of light. The last to clamber up that bank of mud and out that hole always did so in a hurry!!
Like many local kids in the 60’s and 70’s I visited these tunnels many times. Before the steel doors were put in there was a a small oval shaped hole that you squeezed through feet first then slid down a bank of mud till you hit the floor. I remember the toilets, corridors and shaft further along the corridors to the right. It was dark and scary in torchlight and the last to clamber up and out was always in a hurry!! We were 3 girls.
Like many local kids in the 60’s and 70’s I visited these tunnels many times. Before the steel doors were put in there was a a small oval shaped hole that you squeezed through feet first then slid down a bank of mud till you hit the floor. I remember the toilets, corridors and shaft further along the corridors to the right. It was dark and scary in torchlight and the last to clamber up and out was always in a hurry!! We were 3 girls.
Came across this article by accident, I can remember going into the tunnels in !962-1963 We had a long ball of string so we would not get lost. There were stories that they went over to the other side of the Downs but we could not prove it .Be great to go down them again.
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