What you have to remember is that when Williamson came along, he was adding to what was already there. We have thoughts that the quarry's that were there were well before Williamson and he came along and used them for what he wanted.
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The problem being is that when anything is uncovered these days, they are assumed to be Williamson's Tunnels. It is very fair to say that most of Edge Hill IS littered with Williamson's Tunnels, but apart from Hand in 1926, no one has ever actually ventured out towards town. Given the fact that Edge Hill is one of the high points of Liverpool, you'd have to dig down a fair level (i.e. the railway cutting or below) to be on par with the level of town - I couldn't imagine him building one large slope towards town, but I do believe that in his era, there was far less above ground and he really could tunnel where he wanted.
However, it is fair to say that he may well have used other tunnels around the area and added them to his own. One area which I am very interested in is the demolition of the Royal Hospital as it was rumoured that tunnels were found in the building of this. It would give some credible source if they were Williamson Tunnels to extend the boundary to what we see as being the rectangle piece of land from Irvine Street/Highgate Street/Grinfield Street/Smithdown Lane.
There are enough tunnels littered in that area that we've not stumbled upon - I'm just happy to find those

Originally Posted by
ChrisGeorge
Just a quick thought, Cadfael. I may be wrong, but I should think there probably was not a set "boundary" for Williamson's tunnels. If the tunnels were begun, as I believe has been said to have been the case, to give out-of-work Liverpudlians work during around the Napoleonic period, the workers probably just kept digging to wherever it led them. That is, the tunnels had no set purpose or design but just were begun by an eccentric but humane local businessman for the sake of being what they were, a kind of folly, if you wish. Please correct me if I am under a misapprehension about Williamson's digging project. I do agree with the statement that it would seem very unlikely that the tunnels went as far as the Vines on Lime Street or to Lewis's in Renshaw Street.
Chris
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