Miles of tunnels and caves snake below Box and Corsham, but the Quarryman’s Arms offers the opportunity to explore part of the hidden history that has contributed to so much to the area.

It is common knowledge to the residents that their houses are built above an underground city once meant to protect those most important to the country from a possible nuclear attack.  To this day, as new housing estates are built and structures planned, builders discover the plot they have been working on holds a mineshaft underneath.

For two-thousand-years people have been mining or using the underground space from the Romans, to the Bath Stone used to create many structures in the area, to the Ministry of Defence.  

Pop along for a pint and a chat at the Quarryman’s Arms in Box where they supply a number of books about the caves with staff who are friendly and more than willing to talk about it. It interests so many types of people, regardless of age and has been a key part of the childhood of a lot of local people lives.

Four boys playing in the woods near the entrance to the caves talked about how one of their parents had to be escorted from the caves by the Ministry of Defence police after venturing inside and another’s grandmother has caves at the bottom of her garden which people regularly explore. Toby Clarke, 12, was asked if he or anyone he knows has ventured inside. He said: “My dad has and it’s dark and people just walk straight in.”

One of the children confessed that he was brave enough to camp there at night time and Harry Clarke, 12, said: “There’s bats in there and stuff.”

For more information about the “stuff” you could find and the dark recesses you could explore, visit the Quarryman’s Arms and explore what’s lurking below your town. Have you ever visited the caves or do you have your own story to tell about your experiences with our hidden history?