Underground England: Travels Beneath Our Cities and Country

Underground England takes an extraordinary and original look at our island nation—from below. Stephen Smith quite literally delves into the unknown country underneath ploughed fields, cliff tops, and market towns. Underground England will explore rudimentary earth dwellings and hidden Cold War cities; sulfurous natural springs and manmade underground waterways; priest holes and subterranean nooks created with more sinister purposes in mind. The author visits the endless military tunnels built below Chatham since the Napoleonic Wars; and the secret labyrinth quarried out under Liverpool by a religious eccentric. He gets into tight spots with speleologists, and gamely ventures down haunted tunnels and into the mythical resting-places of English kings. A fascinating and eye-opening exploration of the world that lies beneath our feet.