January 30, 2009

Mysterious tunnel

I've just unearthed a curious tunnel beneath the English basement of my 1860s wood-frame house, and I can’t figure out why it was built. I’ve contacted three architectural historians so far, all of whom are mystified.

It’s 12 feet long, 4.5 feet deep, 2.5 feet wide, and runs in an elegant S-curve that starts in the sub-basement, runs under the original kitchen, and ends at a vertical shaft that’s flush with the building line and leads to the back yard. It has finely finished brick walls (better by far than the walls of the house itself), a concrete floor, and as far as I can tell, it’s not pitched.

It’s not a coal chute—too long and curvy, and anyway, there's another coal chute, entirely vertical, that leads from the sub-basement to the front of the house. It’s not a sewage outlet—too wide. Not a water inlet—too far from the cistern. And it’s probably not a root cellar, as it’s not wide enough for storage (and would have been too hot anyway, since it’s connected to the sub-basement, where the furnace likely was.)

Any insights? Guesses?

Posted in Forum by Franklinite at 1:03 PM | Comments (20)
Categories: History