Coventry's mystery tunnels

Where was this?

The tunnel was part of the Sherbourne Valley sewerage scheme. A friend of mine who worked on it said the gang he worked with had won a steak meal for laying the most concrete segments in one shift.

I worked with a chap in the 1970's who had worked on this job. He talked about lifting the concrete tunnel sections into place using his back. He told me that he and his workmates went to the Spittlemoor pub in Lower Ford Street for steak and eggs before they started work for the day and then had the same when they came out at the end of their shift. The tunnel entrance was opposite Brandish's car showroom from memory.

Telegraph readers' comments

Talking of "Coventry tunnel mystery" which I believe has been solved now, does anyone know if there was a tunnel from The Priory ruins that ran all the way to Kenilworth? My mum used to tell me that when she was a child in the 1900s a dog was sent through to test for gas, and it never came out at the other end. (Hate that bit of the story!!). In consequence, it was sealed up. From what I can recall, it was something to do with the monks at the Priory. Wish my mum was still around, she was a mine of information regarding the old Coventry, having been born in Much Park Street, in one of the courtyards. When I too, was young, she used to tell me that as a child she lived in a courtyard with peacocks running around and I thought "oh, how posh!" When I was older, she told me that it was, in fact, a really old cobbled court and the Peacocks were a family that lived up there! I loved her stories of Coventry in the old days!

When was a student in the early 1990s there were stories of tunnels linking religious houses in the city centre out to the Coombe Abbey and other places. I don't think they are true. That so called 'tunnel mystery' could be solved within minutes. I just googled the name of the company, Coventry and tunnel and found an article about the Sherbourne Sewerage Scheme.

There was a maze of tunnels under Foleshill Road Courtaulds linking the two sides of the road and going goodness knows where. There were pits where nobody knew how deep they went or what was at the bottom. As part of my job I helped write a report where we documented as many of the hazards as possible in case thieves broke in and hurt themselves or our staff (Little Heath) got hurt keeping an eye on the place. There was a gateway running out of the priory into Butcher Row that would have seemed like a tunnel because the increase in roadway height, but there is also talk of a real tunnel running either to the Pilgrim's Rest or the Meal Hall nearby. I know that the Pilgrim's Rest had a big cellar. I'm busy trying to work out where all the basements and other subterranean features were. I found a great document listing some of them on my last visit to the Herbert. Shelton excavated or noted many of them. Until I plot them on the map it's hard to understand the written descriptions. A lot of the reputed tunnels were in fact the priory ruins themselves as much of the main areas were built on crypts dug into the hillside to level off the slope. In addition there were water supplies piped from Swanswell and St Agnes Well. Several streams, in addition to the Sherbourne, were culverted by 1900.

I remember reading a book called Haunted Coventry that mentioned tunnels running from the priory towards Kenilworth. The story as I remember goes that a man and his dog went down to explore, and only the dog came back. I have always found these mystery tunnels to be an interesting subject.