The Tunnels of Hertford
The Tunnels of Hertford Part Four (parts one, two, three)
I am not suggesting this as a definitive answer as there is a fourth side to the equation – Shire Hall. As stated this was built in 1627 following a charter from Charles 1 and subsequently rebuilt in 1767 and restored in 1989. There are no reports of underground passages except in Raymond Brown’s article of 2004 in which photographer Mike Poultney recalls such a tunnel being bricked up.
The occasion is recalled in Hertfordshire County Council’s commemorative brochure
published in 1990 concerning the condition of the building: ‘Brickwork was badly
cracked in many places and settlement had taken place in foundations on the south-
This is the corner opposite the Salisbury Arms and most probably close to its cellars and why there are no longer any traces of the medieval cellar and all remedial work is very twentieth century.
There may not have been a tunnel at all; just deterioration or subsidence in the foundations of two properties very close to each other that had undergone serious reconstruction and remedial work over four centuries. On the other hand such a tunnel may have collapsed because of the continuous strain put on it from above.
As the seventeenth century dawned what purpose would any tunnel fulfil? Apart from a possible small underground network around the Shire Hall/Salisbury Arms axis do the tunnels really stretch further into Market Place under the Tourist Information Office and Monsoon/Accessorize? These properties were once held by Quaker families who were not of the established social scene.
There was no other purpose of these properties and the tunnel would have to take a dog leg at what was Charlottes Florist. See previous page for photo showing direct line of sight. Why end at Monsoon/Accessorize as the Acheson’s suggest? I do not know.
The tunnels are said to stretch the whole length of Fore Street and reach Bluecoats Yard. As we have seen this was not built until late in the seventeenth century and was until that time a field.
One has to ask why anyone would want to dig a tunnel with all the labour and material costs, using bricks which were then a new commodity, almost half a mile long to end up in an empty field. According to the reports the tunnels linked numerous chambers along Fore Street.
Hertford’s prosperity was founded on the malting industry. Around the town are some of the best barley fields; after the malting process the malt was transported to London by barge and until the coming of the railways Hertford’s wealth increased.
It should not be surprising to learn then that Hertford had more than its fair share of inns. Almost every house along Fore Street has at one time of another been a brewhouse or inn. And inns usually have cellars.
Many of these cellars are now basements and used by some restaurant proprietors as an extension of their business such as Lussmans. Sheffield Pharmacy is just one property that has its own ghost in its cellar and Messages cellar extends under Fore Street as the owner is allowed to stock goods on the pavement to the extent of the cellar.
The present Corn Exchange ( bottom right) was built on the site of the old County Gaol which was moved opposite Bluecoats following an outbreak of cholera and no doubt had its fair share of underground cellars, cells and passages.
In his book Lewis Turnor is able to state that in 1830 the town centre is well lit,
paved and supplied with water from works at Hartham and gas from a site just north
east of the town. To achieve this would have entailed major engineering work. This
book is out of print but try AbeBooks-
Fore Street has been dug up so many times even in the last decade as local traders know only too well having seen trade suffer as a result. In such excavations any tunnels only as deep as the basement of local shops would have suffered some serious damage or at least been exposed by new drains, power cables, road markings, paving and the host of modern street furniture and accessories that Hertfordshire Highways have inflicted on it.
The full essay with extra material and photos in eBook format: The Tunnels of Hertford.
Previous ... The Tunnels Part Three
Next ... The Templars and the Freemasons
Fore street looking east
Corn Exchange