Tales of Tunnels Beneath Cotswolds Village Prove to be True
- 33 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Stories of hidden tunnels underneath the village of Bloxham had been circulating for as long as anyone could remember, so someone decided to undertake a proper investigation.
In 2024, a Facebook discussion in the north Oxfordshire village about the long-mythologised set of hidden tunnels saw locals compare their subterranean tales. Following that exchange of stories, Dave Green - along with a group of fellow villagers - decided to set up the Bloxham Underground Tunnel Society to see if there was any truth to the legend.
In the two years since it was first formed, the society has now investigated and uncovered an ever expanding network underneath the quaint village on the edge of the Cotswolds. "You've always got sceptics that say there's no such thing as a tunnel, there's nothing like that, but we're out there to prove that there are," Green said.
He explained that the tales of the tunnels had "come from the past, but the problem is people don't investigate and people die, and the stories die." Adding: "Unless, that is, you do something about it and try to find out." So, the intrepid group discovered and entered their first tunnel last year, thanks to "a story from somebody who said when he was a boy he found a tunnel entrance".
Sensibly, expert cavers scouted out the passageway to check it was safe, before the society members inspected it. "That was a fantastic feeling, going in there - our very first tunnel," Green said. Since that first discovery, the society now have "quite a few lines of enquiry" on other potential spots around the village and believe that there may be a "big network" of underground passageways.
So, how old are these tunnels? No carbon dating has yet been undertaken but Green says "We found animal bones and one of the skulls we found was a red deer skull - it was a long, long time ago when red deer roamed the countryside, it was definitely pre-medieval." He reckons that the tunnel network could date as far back as the Roman period, and may have been "used a lot across different centuries." OGN will keep you updated.
