The Grange - Bunkers or Tunnels but unsafe
Printed From: Chalfont St Peter
Category: Chalfont St Peter
Forum Name: News and Gossip
Forum Description: News and info on whats up in Chalfont St Peter
URL: https://www.chalfontstpeter.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8314
Printed Date: 16 April 2024 at 6:25am
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Topic: The Grange - Bunkers or Tunnels but unsafe
Posted By: Joanne
Subject: The Grange - Bunkers or Tunnels but unsafe
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 11:26am
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My son and his friends told me about a secret bunker they'd found near where we live. Very exciting stuff for a bunch of kids!! They took me to the Holy Cross site (near the entrance to the Grange off Gold Hill) and to the left in the woods before the nun's graveyard is a dell where they have started to fell and chop the trees down. In amongst the area are a number of holes (with significant drops into the tunnels/bunkers) If you were taking a stroll you could easily not see them and fall down those holes. A bit further to the left is an entrance with concrete steps and an old wooden door has been taken off the entrance. Whether these are old war bunkers or the start of the mythical (!) tunnels that lead down to the greyhound I've no idea. There is also a stone area with steps built around it with a statue of Mary on it. My point is, as exciting as it is, the drops are dangerous for inquisitive children and walkers alike and are the developers doing anything to protect this area if it's of historical interest. I called the local police but they said it was a council issue, but I'm wondering which parts of the site are public spaces and which are not, it's not very clear. Can anyone help? P.S I have lots of photos but don't think I can post them to this post |
Replies:
Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 12:12pm
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Hi Joanne I've sent you a private message with a contact at the parish council who might be able to help. ------------- The artist formerly known as Bobblehead :) |
Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 12:24pm
| Historically important, should be listed. Could / should be a big tourist attraction for the village. Still find it amazing the Grange building wasn't listed as hugely significant in local history. |
Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 12:34pm
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Yes Watsy I agree..... ------------- The artist formerly known as Bobblehead :) |
Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 12:48pm
Back to the 1600's at least - couple of scans:  |
Posted By: Joanne
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 1:47pm
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Thanks Emma I will call them on Monday. How can I post photos on this post so that you can have a look? |
Posted By: brewski
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 4:08pm
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Surely this is private property? Or it used to be when the nuns owned it, used to be signs saying keep out. Saying that, I'm intrigued and will be doing my own investigation!😉 ------------- Too many laws... Too few examples... |
Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 5:40pm
I don't know! I'm rubbish, Watsy can tell you though ;) ------------- The artist formerly known as Bobblehead :) |
Joanne wrote:Posted By: Joanne
Date Posted: 15 July 2017 at 8:00pm
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I've put the pics on my twitter page, hope you can see these https://twitter.com/jr_lothian/status/886297949701013505" rel="nofollow - https://twitter.com/jr_lothian/status/886297949701013505 Or search JR_Lothian |
Posted By: ArtB
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 7:51am
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Could it/they be an "Ice House" for the Grange as there was a pond at the top of Gold Hill and on old maps there are tracks down to that area. Art ------------- *** If you're not part of the solution, you may be part of the problem! |
Posted By: dickybird
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 11:18am
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Morning, Joanna Intrigued - will go down there this morning to investigate. All attempts to preserve the Grange failed, miserably, and it would be great to make a find on the site that would be worth saving. I had heard rumours of secret tunnels but taken them all with a pinch of salt... I can't access your pics. Please could you email them to me at kzdickson@btinternet.com? |
Posted By: dickybird
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 11:25am
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PS: The site is not public yet. Still a building site but the area of the dell you refer to will be open to the public in time. I will make contact with the site manager first thing Monday if the entrances/holes are dangerous - surprised they are not cordoned off already. As for the felling of the trees, that has been another huge disappoinment. So many of them have TPO's but the tree officer at CDC says that there is not enough legislation to protect them. Last i heard, 22 were facing the chop in July. 
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Posted By: Bucks Fizz
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 2:28pm
| A former teacher at Holy Cross (formerly The Grange) told me there were extensive cellars beneath the now demolished school and that these dated from Tudor times, having been there since the first Grange was built, if not before. She was always surprised those cellars were not listed, as some of the doors were magnificent, oak studded with nails, etc. Perhaps this is what the 'tunnels' are? |
Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:22pm
Hope you don't mind Joanne, but I've copied your photos and posting below. Great work.   |
Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:22pm
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Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:22pm
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Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:23pm
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Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:23pm
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Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:23pm
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Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:24pm
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Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:24pm
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Posted By: Bucks Fizz
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 3:43pm
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Wow, a grotto! Puts me in mind of that old song:- 'Nobody loves a fairy when she's forty. Nobody loves a fairy when she's old. You stand there shouting 'what ho?', but they pass right by your grotto ...'! 
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Posted By: dickybird
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 5:08pm
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It is quite a find your son and his friend made, Joanna! Agree with you that the openings are dangerous - will contact the site manager first thing tomorrow to mark them off somehow. They are bound to tempt someone to go in to explore and that will be risky. Will also ask him what the long term plan is for that part of the site. It is alongside the new McCarthy Retirement Home development, as best as I can make out, but I am fairly confident that it will remain a green space that is not going to be build on.
Don't think they are anything as exciting as Tudor Tunnels, Bucks Fizz - they look more like a bomb shelter, albeit a pretty big shelter. Have spoken with an ex-student who remembers being told about them as a schoolgirl (although never saw inside). Was good to explore this morning: lovely to see the huge trees, the pretty, shaded dell and the Virgin Mary statuette but sad to see the unnecessary neglect the site has suffered and the old trees marked with blue crosses, presumably marked for felling. Wish the site could have been developed more sympathetically  |
Posted By: hissing sid
Date Posted: 16 July 2017 at 9:25pm
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I'm I correct in saying that this has been mentioned in the past on this forum? I've definitely seen a picture similar to the above before. ------------- Hissing Sid It's a free country, adopt whatever PC stance you want. Just don't tell me which stance I should take just because it clashes with your opinion. |
Posted By: Joanne
Date Posted: 17 July 2017 at 9:41am
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So glad you've managed to see down there yourself and managed to share this pics for all to see. I think we should contact the local paper too! But you can see how it's not very clear that it's not a public space either hence why children have been exploring! |
Posted By: brewski
Date Posted: 17 July 2017 at 10:16am
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Went to have a peak yesterday, couldn't find the caves, just the Mary statue, which I'm surprised is still in one piece and not been vandalised. Quite surreal, I agree it is a very important part of the village's history and culture and needs to be retained for future generations. ------------- Too many laws... Too few examples... |
Posted By: watsy
Date Posted: 17 July 2017 at 1:56pm
Statue photos courtesy of Brewski:  |
Posted By: ian
Date Posted: 14 September 2017 at 6:53pm
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The statue has been vandalised and is no more I took photos - not sure this link will work https://photos.app.goo.gl/a9KXdYTMBMmQBVLP2" rel="nofollow - https://photos.app.goo.gl/a9KXdYTMBMmQBVLP2
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Posted By: brewski
Date Posted: 14 September 2017 at 7:01pm
Disgusting, sadly it was just a matter of time. ------------- Too many laws... Too few examples... |
Posted By: Newbie08
Date Posted: 23 September 2017 at 5:32pm
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There are often children playing in that area and it's such a shame that something the developers actually preserved was destroyed by local children
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Posted By: hissing sid
Date Posted: 23 September 2017 at 7:10pm
Queries, Did I miss something? Who said it children? ------------- Hissing Sid It's a free country, adopt whatever PC stance you want. Just don't tell me which stance I should take just because it clashes with your opinion. |
Posted By: brewski
Date Posted: 23 September 2017 at 7:29pm
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Surely the shoddy building contractors should of arranged security around the site, as far as I know there isn't any. ------------- Too many laws... Too few examples... |
Posted By: hissing sid
Date Posted: 23 September 2017 at 7:50pm
Was it necessary, in all the years it was there? Before construction began. Maybe it was nothing to do with children or construction, it was to do with publicity. I personally knew it was there, when I was kid finding my way around. ------------- Hissing Sid It's a free country, adopt whatever PC stance you want. Just don't tell me which stance I should take just because it clashes with your opinion. |
Posted By: Newbie08
Date Posted: 24 September 2017 at 8:20am
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Just an assumption from observations most evenings and weekends seeing boys play there. I think it's a shame that the tunnels have had to be filled in in such a way too. Also the builders aren't shoddy - my new home is great! The plans on site have all been built to specifications agreed during planning permission stage .... it is not the developers 'fault' that some things haven't been preserved as well as you may have wanted them to have been. It would have been agreed when the land was sold. The statue and little copse area was preserved, the graveyard preserved. And the chapel/church building. Not sure what else could have been as I obviously didn't know it any other way. But it's sad to see the developers get the stick for it when I have a great new home in a lovely, mostly friendly, village! |
Posted By: brewski
Date Posted: 24 September 2017 at 10:53am
Good luck with your new home, personally I wouldn't of purchased one after the developer's aggressive approach and constructed by mainly Eastern European workers drinking cheap strong lager every morning & afternoon in Hampden Road! ------------- Too many laws... Too few examples... |
Posted By: ian
Date Posted: 25 September 2017 at 7:01am
| What is the relevance of the construction workers' nationalities? |
Posted By: EmmaO
Date Posted: 25 September 2017 at 10:27am
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Hi Newbie08, I'm so pleased you love your house, a friend of a friend has moved up there too and I went to have a look about, I thought it was very pleasant and it's prime location right in the heart of the village too! Welcome and I hope you'll be very happy here indeed. ------------- The artist formerly known as Bobblehead :) |
Posted By: lesleyr
Date Posted: 25 September 2017 at 6:46pm
| There were few if any local construction workers used on this site. They were recruited abroad by an agency direct. I am sure they have done a good job. But the developers promised local jobs and I know that none were used. |
Posted By: Newbie08
Date Posted: 29 September 2017 at 2:58pm
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Ah! Maybe that's why my light switches are wonky
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Posted By: Rod
Date Posted: 29 September 2017 at 8:44pm
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What is the relevance of the fact that they were drinking "cheap strong lager every morning and afternoon in Hampden Road"? The guys probably put in a hard day's graft which is the reason why they got the jobs rather than other wasters who feel they are owed something. If they want a beer together then fair play. I actually have a strong preference for Eastern Europeans when I have requirements to be met. |
Posted By: LilyRose
Date Posted: 30 September 2017 at 8:50am
| Rod, you don't see a problem with people drinking alcohol whilst working on a building site? They're a danger to themselves and others. |
Posted By: MV Owner
Date Posted: 30 September 2017 at 8:51am
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Sometimes I drink a couple of stellas whilst up a ladder juggling plates and doing the fandango. |
Posted By: Rod
Date Posted: 30 September 2017 at 10:57am
| I am sure that whoever is in charge of the building site on a daily basis does not allow drunk workers staggering about on site doing a poor job and endangering themselves and others...thats all I was saying...merely an attempt at defending them against the xenophobic stereo typing of the earlier post of someone who has probably not left Chalfont St Peter in their life. I have had some wonderful experiences with East Europeans. |
Posted By: MV Owner
Date Posted: 30 September 2017 at 11:03am
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Were there any East Europeans above The George Rod? |