Emperor Jonathan I and Countess Eritoshi yesterday investigated legends of a huge network of tunnels underneath the British town of Beddington leading into the surrounding area.
Emperor Esmond III had led an informal expedition in search of the entrances to these tunnels on 29 May 2010, but this had little success other than finding a shaft covered by a large rock which went into a mound in a park in Wallington.
The expedition, recorded on camera for the Imperial Geographical Society, first went to Copan, where they investigated some pipes directly over one of the possible routes taken by the tunnels if they branched off towards various old buildings as rumoured. However, these pipes were found to have been for drainage in the days when a watermill stood in the north of Copan.
The Emperor and Countess next headed into Wallington, to the same park explored by Esmond III’s expedition in 2010. It was judged that the mound with a shaft leading down into it was probably once an old air raid shelter – it could not be proven otherwise, as an attempt to move the rock which blocks the entrance failed.
The expedition afterwards walked to Beddington Park to visit Carew Manor. It is known that a tunnel exists under the medieval Carew Manor, but both it and the church next to it were closed and so there was nobody there to ask about the tunnels. Walking in the direction of the Plough Inn, the Emperor and Countess explored a small wooded area between the two locations. A circle of tarmac was discovered in the woods, which the Emperor suggested may possibly be a blocked entrance to the tunnel running between the two.
Arriving at the Plough Inn, the expedition spoke to the assistant manager, who confirmed that the tunnel entrance in the cellar had been bricked up. She told them that a nearby hill on which some houses were built had been made with the soil excavated when the tunnels were dug.
After walking over the hill and noting the large amount of soil that would have been needed to construct it, the Emperor and Countess walked down a road known to have a manhole cover leading down to the tunnels. A relatively large, unmarked one was found, which is likely to have been the one connected to the tunnels. The expedition then departed via bus to Thanasia.
This was the fourth IGS Expedition to have taken place so far in 2013. A video of the expedition can be seen here.
