Over the past few weeks a thorough archeological investigation has been carried out on part of the land known to have once belonged to 'The Mole of Edge Hill', Joseph Williamson.



The work is the first professional excavation that has ever been carried out on the Williamson Tunnels.

The dig has uncovered a previously unseen major Williamson Tunnel as well as the foundations of the old stable buildings and a previously unknown roadway.

We at the Williamson Tunnels Heritage Centre have been privileged to have a prime view of the excavations on Smithdown Lane and can present to you some of the fantastic images :


Aerial view of the archaeolgical survey site in front of the Williamson Tunnels Heritage Centre.
The remains of a tunnel can be seen in the centre of the photograph.


A ground level view of the newly uncovered remains of tunnel. The tunnel runs east to west under the Heritage Centre and may once have intersected a known tunnel running north to south under the Heritage Centre car park.


The narrow tunnel discovered beneath the construction site in front of the Hertage Centre.


The interior of the narrow tunnel discovered beneath the construction site in front of the Heritage Centre.


On the right of this photograph is the newly uncovered cobbled roadway with a slab-covered trench running alongside it. Both the roadway and the trench have been bisected by the later sewer trench which runs diagonally across the photo.

These new discoveries and the fully excavated section of Williamson's Tunnels can be seen during the normal opening hours of the Heritage Centre on Smithdown Lane.

We are very excited about the possibilties of these excavations and we will continue to upadate our website at: http://www.williamsontunnels.co.uk/view.php?page=news

All images copyright JWS 2011.