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Mum stunned to discover huge underground tunnel in garden after lifting paving slab
Rebecca Hobson, 34, unearthed the giant tunnel buried under a paving slab with her partner Darren, 34, after locals suggested there may be 'something in the garden' dating back to the Second World War
A mum was left gobsmacked after discovering a massive underground World War 2 bunker in her garden when she lifted a paving slab.
Rebecca Hobson, 34, found the huge tunnel hidden under a slab with her partner Darren, 34, after neighbours hinted there might be 'something in the garden' from the Second World War era.
Feeling bored during lockdown, the pair decided to explore their back garden to see if the rumours were true. To their surprise, they found the entrance to a 1m-wide tunnel. Incredible footage shows steps leading down into the shelter, revealing a 'damp' passageway.
Rebecca, who moved into the three-bedroom terrace house 15 years ago, said they discovered the unique structure during the pandemic in 2020 but only started digging it out last year.
After deciding to share photos and videos of the air raid shelter on TikTok earlier this month, their posts have gone viral, leaving users amazed by their suspected WW2-era discovery.
The video shows the passage continuing for about 50 metres to a dead end, where the building administrator says another entrance once existed. The mum-of-two revealed that when they uncovered the shelter, they found an old toy gun and lots of 'rusty' bottles and bowls inside.
Rebecca said at present she doesn't know which war the shelter was used in and is still trying to dig up the history on the wartime site. Newspaper cuttings reveal the shelter was built by volunteers during the Second World War to hold 200 women and children during the bombings and protect them from 'the cruelties of Hitlerism'.
Rebecca, from a village near Folkestone, Kent, said: "When we moved into the house we had no idea about the air raid shelter being in our garden."
"A few years later some of the locals said there might be something in the garden [from the war]. We found it under a big slab in the garden and originally uncovered it in lockdown."
"People told us about there being something in our garden but we didn't want to do anything with it. It was only when we were in lockdown and we were bored that we decided to look into it. We're still trying to dig into the history of it, but it's still really interesting."
"Our row of houses were built in the seventies and so we are assuming that the earth they dug out for the foundations [for these houses], covered up the tunnel. All we know about the shelter at the moment is what we have been able to find out from some newspaper clippings."
"The shelter was built for all the mothers and children in the village to use. When we opened the shelter for the first time we found a toy gun in there and lots of rat traps and rusty bottles and bowls."
Since discovering the wartime shelter, the couple said they have cleaned out the passageway and added lights to it but don't want to alter the building anymore as they want to maintain its history.
Rebecca said her children were very excited to go inside wartime shelter and has since asked the local schools if they want to come and visit.
Rebecca said: "We thought it was going to be really small [when we first discovered it] but it was amazing and we were so shocked by the size of it. We thought it was going to be big enough to just fit a handful of people in but it is supposed to be able to fit 200 people in it."
"When you go into it, you go down about five or six steps. It's very cold and damp and it's then just a brick tunnel. The tunnel did lead to the end of the road to the edge of my neighbours garden but they were worried that they might get rats so they blocked their side up so you can only get in from our garden now."
Rebecca said: "We've swept it all out as it was really mucky inside and we've added some lights inside so people can see inside. I feel very privileged that we have this bit of history in our garden."
Daily Star Sunday
Rebecca Hobson, 34, unearthed the giant tunnel buried under a paving slab with her partner Darren, 34, after locals suggested there may be 'something in the garden' dating back to the Second World War
A mum was left gobsmacked after discovering a massive underground World War 2 bunker in her garden when she lifted a paving slab.
Rebecca Hobson, 34, found the huge tunnel hidden under a slab with her partner Darren, 34, after neighbours hinted there might be 'something in the garden' from the Second World War era.
Feeling bored during lockdown, the pair decided to explore their back garden to see if the rumours were true. To their surprise, they found the entrance to a 1m-wide tunnel. Incredible footage shows steps leading down into the shelter, revealing a 'damp' passageway.
Rebecca, who moved into the three-bedroom terrace house 15 years ago, said they discovered the unique structure during the pandemic in 2020 but only started digging it out last year.
After deciding to share photos and videos of the air raid shelter on TikTok earlier this month, their posts have gone viral, leaving users amazed by their suspected WW2-era discovery.
The video shows the passage continuing for about 50 metres to a dead end, where the building administrator says another entrance once existed. The mum-of-two revealed that when they uncovered the shelter, they found an old toy gun and lots of 'rusty' bottles and bowls inside.
Rebecca said at present she doesn't know which war the shelter was used in and is still trying to dig up the history on the wartime site. Newspaper cuttings reveal the shelter was built by volunteers during the Second World War to hold 200 women and children during the bombings and protect them from 'the cruelties of Hitlerism'.
Rebecca, from a village near Folkestone, Kent, said: "When we moved into the house we had no idea about the air raid shelter being in our garden."
"A few years later some of the locals said there might be something in the garden [from the war]. We found it under a big slab in the garden and originally uncovered it in lockdown."
"People told us about there being something in our garden but we didn't want to do anything with it. It was only when we were in lockdown and we were bored that we decided to look into it. We're still trying to dig into the history of it, but it's still really interesting."
"Our row of houses were built in the seventies and so we are assuming that the earth they dug out for the foundations [for these houses], covered up the tunnel. All we know about the shelter at the moment is what we have been able to find out from some newspaper clippings."
"The shelter was built for all the mothers and children in the village to use. When we opened the shelter for the first time we found a toy gun in there and lots of rat traps and rusty bottles and bowls."
Since discovering the wartime shelter, the couple said they have cleaned out the passageway and added lights to it but don't want to alter the building anymore as they want to maintain its history.
Rebecca said her children were very excited to go inside wartime shelter and has since asked the local schools if they want to come and visit.
Rebecca said: "We thought it was going to be really small [when we first discovered it] but it was amazing and we were so shocked by the size of it. We thought it was going to be big enough to just fit a handful of people in but it is supposed to be able to fit 200 people in it."
"When you go into it, you go down about five or six steps. It's very cold and damp and it's then just a brick tunnel. The tunnel did lead to the end of the road to the edge of my neighbours garden but they were worried that they might get rats so they blocked their side up so you can only get in from our garden now."
Rebecca said: "We've swept it all out as it was really mucky inside and we've added some lights inside so people can see inside. I feel very privileged that we have this bit of history in our garden."
Daily Star Sunday