C O N T E X T 1 0 9 : M A Y 2 0 0 9 25 CLAIRE MOORHEAD The labyrinth of Edge Hill Between 1800 and 1840 Joseph Williamson created a mysterious labyrinth at Edge Hill, Liverpool. Much of it is still under threat, awaiting rescue and conservation. The Williamson Tunnels form a labyrinth of subterranean passages and caverns, some connected, some isolated, built in the early 19th century in the Edge Hill district of Liverpool.Why JosephWilliamson, a retired tobacco merchant, masterminded their construction is not known with any certainty.Theories range from pure philanthropy in giving work to the poor, to religious extremism in a haven from predicted Armageddon. Sections of the tunnels have been cleared, partly renovated and opened to the public by the Joseph Williamson Society at theWilliamsonTunnels Heritage Centre on Smithdown Lane. Much work has been done by hand with pick, shovel and barrow. This human-scale work has ensured that alterations in loading on buried brick and stone structures have been slow and steady, permitting careful assessment at each stage, and creating an invaluable expertise among the digging teams. Volunteers have sifted the debris to unearth any hidden objects.The heritage centre has an impressive catalogue of their finds, including analysis of numerous ceramic items, useful as date-markers in the oldest layers of infill. Near the heritage centre three main areas have been the subject of geophysical surveys, presenting problems, which have stretched surveying techniques to the limit. These have been named as the ‘house site’, ‘Paddington’, and ‘land behind the house’. All lie within 400 metres of each other, but the labyrinth extends well beyond this central section. The tunnels take several forms.Most are brick arches spanning deep rock-cut chasms in cut-and-cover work. Occasionally there are stone arches, and rock-cut tunnels. Williamson’s work is being made accessible through the work of the Friends of Williamson’s Tunnels, a voluntary organisation dedicated to tracing and renovating the whole of the system. This organisation is in protracted negotiations with the owners of the Liberty Park Student Village and with Liverpool City Council, for purchase of a lease at the Paddington site. Here plans have been submitted to clear underground chambers and make their access safe, in accordance with the ever-increasing demands of health and safety legislation. All work at the site will be done in accordance with detailed method statements drawn up early in 2009. Between the heritage centre and Paddington lies the ‘house site’. This was the house into which Mr and Mrs Williamson moved in 1805, and in which they both ended their days. All that is left of it above ground is the front facade, the inner face of which is a curious mixture of brick and stone, and which bears evidence of interior wood-panelling. The exterior of the house was ashlar, shaped and dressed stone blocks, with thin band string courses dividing each floor. The house was topped by a low parapet, which hid the roof. This was a London technique copied to comply with fire regulations. Behind the façade is a vacant plot of land, beneath which can be found more of Williamson’s work, including the striking underground ‘Banqueting Hall.’ In the ‘land behind the house’, test bores detected a deep chamber more than 12 metres wide. Partial exploration revealed only the top couple of metres in depth and about 10 metres in length of this chamber, the remainder blocked by massive later infill and collapsed roof arch.The latter reveals that the arch was Cross-vaulting at the Paddington site A side chamber with ash infill at the Paddington site. Waste ash was shoveled through the hole in the roof. A twin-arch crossing at the Paddington site
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