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Summary

Tunnel or cellar revealed during building work at 109 Bitton Park Road, possibly associated with Bitton House to the west, or with a house shown on the tithe map which was demolished in the later 19th century.

Location

Protected Status: none recorded

Other References/Statuses

• Old DCC SMR Ref: SX97SW/180

Monument Type(s) and Dates

• TUNNEL (Unknown date)

Full description

Unknown, 03/09/1987, Untitled Source (Article in Serial). SDV350642.

In 1987 a builder extending the cellar of 109 Bitton Park Road broke into a previously unknown tunnel. It was running north under the road, stone and brick built, and some 8 feet high and 5 feet wide. One possible explanation was that it formed part of a cellar system of a demolished wing of Bitton House.

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Maps and Apportionments (Website). SDV349463.

Plot 269 in the West Teignmouth tithe apportionment is a house owned and occupied by Catherine Temple.

Devon County Council, 1838-1848, Tithe Mosaic, approximately 1838-1848 (Cartographic). SDV349431.

Plot 269 (West Teignmouth).

Ordnance Survey, 1855-1895, First Edition 1:500 Town Map (Cartographic). SDV338879.

The land to the east of Bitton House, including that owned by Catherine Temple in the early 19th century, has been incorporated into Bitton Park, and the house is no longer standing.

Ordnance Survey, 1904 - 1906, Second Edition Ordnance Survey 25 inch Map (Cartographic). SDV325644.

Four rows of terraced houses are shown between the south side of Bitton Road and the railway line, on land to the east of Bitton House.

Teignmouth News, 1987, Mystery of Underground Passageway: Tunnel of Love Among the Theories (Article in Serial). SDV240285.

An intriguing insight into Teignmouth's colourful and romantic past could have come to light, with the discovery of a tunnel unearthed in Bitton Park Road and which runs below the pavement.

Eight foot tall, stone and brick built tunnel, which was discovered during works to a cellar. There are many theories as to its true use, one of the more romantic being that it was a lover's tunnel. A model of the land divided into estates as it looked in the 1830s is kept at Teignmouth Museum and adds weight to the theory. The tunnel would have run from what was then Teignmouth House, occupied at the time by Catherine Temple, towards Westcliffe House, now the council chambers, then owned by Lord Exmouth.

Other theories include, a passageway from the hospital, to an isolation wing, a smugglers passageway, or a water tunnel from wells situated nearby.

Baines, C., 2012, Untitled Source (Personal Comment). SDV350643.

The tunnel or cellar found during building work could possibly have been part of a house which was located in this area in the early 19th century, then demolished in the mid to late 19th century when Bitton Park was extended to the east. Bitton House itself is about 100 metres further west.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Monuments

Associated Finds: none recorded

Associated Events: none recorded

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