63. Box Mine - Wiltshire
Box is a small village in Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles east of Bath. Since Roman times a particularly fine stone has been mined there leaving the entire area a mass of tunnels. During the Second Wolrd War the army moved in and created several large ammunition dumps within the mines, and today some are still used by private companies as large stores.
The adjacent railway which runs to London passes through Box Hill by way of a long tunnel built by the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Although I cant work out if the tunnel goes over or under the mine bit!
There is three regions to the mine, totalling some 90Km of tunnels. It’s incredibly easy to get lost as it all looks the same and it’s obviously pitch black!
Once we were in we made the tight muddy crawl towards the main attraction. All of a sudden the small confined spaces open up into this. The Cathedral:
It reminds me a lot of the film “The Goonies” when they find that ship in the cave.
Here it is with me for scale:
OK last one:
We got lost for about 30-40% of the time, which I thought was just the right amount; exciting, but not scary.
We eventually found ‘The robots’
We stopped for lunch by the robots for lunch. 120ft down, everyone had energy bars and glucose drinks. However I’d bought a selection of cheeses, and some vintage wine.
Classic UrbanX:
Classic Covert Urbex, you cant take him anywhere!
As some as you may know the mine abuts the infamous Burlington underground bunker. Which for 25 years was probably Britains most secret place. We could get right up to the door, and could even hear the ventilation engines running the other side!
All in all it was an amazing adventure, although I put that down to the amazing company as much as the location. Thanks to everyone that I met down there, and special thanks to Kingrat who organised it, and Kingrat / Sectionate for getting us lost, and found again!
The adjacent railway which runs to London passes through Box Hill by way of a long tunnel built by the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel. Although I cant work out if the tunnel goes over or under the mine bit!
There is three regions to the mine, totalling some 90Km of tunnels. It’s incredibly easy to get lost as it all looks the same and it’s obviously pitch black!
Once we were in we made the tight muddy crawl towards the main attraction. All of a sudden the small confined spaces open up into this. The Cathedral:
It reminds me a lot of the film “The Goonies” when they find that ship in the cave.
Here it is with me for scale:
OK last one:
We got lost for about 30-40% of the time, which I thought was just the right amount; exciting, but not scary.
We eventually found ‘The robots’
We stopped for lunch by the robots for lunch. 120ft down, everyone had energy bars and glucose drinks. However I’d bought a selection of cheeses, and some vintage wine.
Classic UrbanX:
Classic Covert Urbex, you cant take him anywhere!
As some as you may know the mine abuts the infamous Burlington underground bunker. Which for 25 years was probably Britains most secret place. We could get right up to the door, and could even hear the ventilation engines running the other side!
All in all it was an amazing adventure, although I put that down to the amazing company as much as the location. Thanks to everyone that I met down there, and special thanks to Kingrat who organised it, and Kingrat / Sectionate for getting us lost, and found again!
No photos have been added to this portfolio yet or the previously uploaded photos have been removed.
To get in touch, please use the contact page.
To get in touch, please use the contact page.