Williamson's tunnels
Engravings on the wall of the Williamson's Tunnels The tunnel sides and arched, brick constructed roof Plates, some of the large numbers of items found as a result of the tunnels being used as a Victorian rubbish tip after Williamson's death Williamson's Tunnels in Edge Hill (a district of Liverpool, England) are a bizarre collection of seemingly pointless tunnels built by Joseph Williamson from 1806 to 1840.
The tunnels
The tunnels are in an area to the east of Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral in a rectangle bordered by Mason Street, Grinfield Street, Smithdown Lane and Paddington. They run beneath the brow of the 'Edge-hill' - one of the highest points in Liverpool.
The reason for their creation is unknown, but the most common guess it that they were constructed to provide employment during the economic recession following the Napoleonic Wars. If this is true then the tunnels are possibly the oldest known job creation scheme. Other less widely held theories include a refuge from "the end of the world", secret passageways for secret activites, and lastly some think he was simply mad.
Another, more recent theory is that the tunnels served the purpose of land reclamation. The site of the tunnels was previously an open sandstone quarry for at least 200 years before Williamson purchased the land at a cheap rate from the Waste Land Comission. The quarry, consisting of a wide range of holes of varying depths meant that during the early 1800s this void was land unsuitable for anything.
Williamson made use of this by encouraging his men to build arches - mainly from bricks but occasionally out of sandstone. These arches started at the edge of the holes from the quarry and they could support a great weight above them and so Williamson was able to then use the land above to build his houses and gardens upon.
Joseph Williamson
Joseph Williamson, was a 19th-century philanthropist, tobacco merchant, property owner and pioneer of tunnels. He was born on 10 March 1769, possibly in Warrington, and moved to Liverpool when he was 11, where he found employment with Richard Tate, a tobacco merchant.
He become rich through the tobacco trade, married Elizabeth Tate, his boss' daughter in 1802 and gained ownership of the Tate Tobacco Company. He retired and sold off the company in 1818, built houses and terraced gardens in the Edge Hill area of Liverpool and excavated a labyrinth of seemingly pointless tunnels and cellars underneath them.
His houses were an early indicator to his eccentricity. Some, it's said had coal cellars that could hold 200 Tonnes of coal as well as multiple layered basements descending six stories beneath street level. Despite the unusual design many wealthy people wanted to live in the houses. Williamson's tenants included artist Cornelius Henderson and philosopher James Martineau.
Williamson died, aged 71, on May 1 1840. He had no children and the tunnelling ceased immediately upon his death and never continued. The tunnels were abandoned and rubbish was allowed to accumulate from 1840 onwards.
Williamson was buried in the Tate family vault at St. Thomas' Church, situated at the intersection between Park Lane and Paradise Street in Liverpool city centre. The church was demolished in 1911 and covered over in 1920 after falling into disrepair. In later years the area of land was used as a car park.
During the summer of 2005 excavations took place on the site as part of the Paradise Street Development. On October 23 2005 the gravestone of Williamson was revealed for the first time in nearly a century. The inscription on the stone records that Joseph Williamson and his wife Elizabeth Tate are buried there, along with her mother Hannah Tate, father Richard Tate and grandmother Ann Tate.
The tourist attraction
The tunnels have become a popular tourist attraction since a small section of the network was opened in 2002. Due to the continual excavations on the site, the nature and plan of the tunnels and the tour is constantly changed and updated.
The entrance to the 'Williamson Tunnels Heritage Centre' is located at 'The Old Stableyard' on Smithdown Lane. The stableyard once belonged to Liverpool Corporation, who originally kept dust carts there, and later it was used for the Lord Mayor's coach and horses. Unfortunately many of the stable blocks were demolished after the yard fell into disuse in 1993.
It is now also the headquarters of the Liverpool Stagecoach Company who keep two of their horses in stable here throughout the year.
Timeline
- 1769 Born in Warrington, England on March 10th
- 1780 (circa) Moves to Liverpool
- 1780 (circa) Finds work at tobacco and snuff firm of Richard Tate
- 1802 Marries the boss's daughter, Elizabeth Tate
- 1803 Buys the family firm and builds his mansions in Edge Hill
- 1815 Napoleonic Wars end and he employs former soldiers for tunneling
- 1822 Elizabeth Tate dies and he immerses himself in the tunnel project until his money runs out
- 1840 Williamson dies aged 70 from water on the chest on May 1st
External links and references
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