Nevill Street Subway.......for many years it has been talked about with mystery and facination.

Is it still intact?,could it be re-opened?,Can you still get down there?.

I have been down myself many,many years ago and all i will say is,"I know what i saw",and i think its mystery should be kept alive......."So im keeping shtum".

What il atempt to do here though is show its EXACT location.

First three extracts and reports from surveys..............

Town's road to nowhere Sep 24 2004

By Graham Davies, Southport Visiter

FOR more than a century it has been one of Southport's greatest mysteries.

Thousands of Sandgrounders have talked about it but only a select few have actually clapped eyes on it.

Today the Southport Visiter can reveal the lost row of shops beneath Nevill Street has been bricked up and may never be seen again.

But, as the street is about to undergo a major facelift, tourism bosses haven't ruled out turning it into an attraction.

Lord Ronnie Fearn, Sefton's Cabinet member for leisure and tourism, said: "I thought we could possibly open it at some time in the future but, having spoken to engineers, they didn't think it was feasible.

"However, there is still a presence of shops down there among the rubble and dust.

"We haven't got lots and lots of money and I'm sure that

council tax payers wouldn't want it put forward.

"But it's the sort of thing that maybe we could go to Europe with in the future and say, 'this is another scheme we have for this super town, for Southport as a Classic Resort.'

"It would mean a major operation and, because of the new bridge and road systems around the Queen Victoria statue, it could possibly be a non-starter."

Throughout most of the 19th century, Nevill Street - named after early Southport inhabitant James Nevill - was on two levels. The upper level led to the Promenade. People walking along the lower level would be taken under a bridge and straight onto the sands.

In 1903, the lower level was filled in. The result was the street we see today.

Town historian Harry Foster said: "Under the pavement on the northern side of Nevill Street were the Victoria Hotel vaults - a low-level licensed bar, regarded as an anti-social blot on the area.

"So Sir Charles Scarisbrick, a local landowner and the Mayor in 1901, paid £5,000 for the vaults to enable the subway to be closed and filled in, and Nevill Street was redeveloped.

"His payment was seen as a gift to the town."

The shop fronts remained underground and could be viewed by entering through the basement at Victoria Baths or a door beneath the start of the pier where Fun-land now stands.

Former tourism boss Phil King said: "Although I never managed to get down there, from the old photographs it looked excellent.

"But that was before the invention of the car and what it was doing was cutting the Promenade in two.

"About 25 years ago, I remember the borough engineer coming to inspect it and he reported there was no chance of it ever being refurbished."

That opportunity to view the street was lost completely five years ago when part of the road next to Queen Victoria's statue collapsed.

The council spent four months repairing the road, blocking any passage to the underground street, which was perceived as a danger.

Plans are now afoot to extend Nevill Street's pavements to make way for out-door seating and to reposition the statue in a more central place.

And although the possibilities of opening up the under-ground street are very slim, there are plenty of people who want to see the preserved piece of Southport's past.

Wally Birch, owner of Victoria Leisure, said: "It has intrigued me for years.

"When Victoria Leisure opened in 1978, people were saying you could get under-neath and take a look at the shops.

"It's always been something I wanted to see, but I bet the fresh lobster in the shellfish shops has gone off by now."

Journeying deeper into the history of Southport's submerged street

Extract from Southport Visiter "Look Back" Archives January 2008

Posted by Robert Alcock on January 11, 2008 9:15 AM

CRACKING the enigma of Southport's submerged seafront street has come one step closer, thanks to Southport Visiter readers.

A specialist exploration group's appeal for help in charting the remains of the hidden subway beneath Nevill Street, reported in last week's Visiter, has provoked a wave of response.

Your accounts have shed light on the mystery of one of the town's forgotten landmarks, and will help industrial archeology team Subterranea Britannica in their research.

Those tales include the exploits of readers who say they set foot on the underground street, decades after it was buried by Southport Corporation in 1903.

Neville Williams described how he was a teenage apprentice with the Corporation when he walked down the remains of what was known as Nevill Street Bridge.

Now 72, the Kensington Road resident told how he ventured "a good 150 to 200 yards" underneath the road that is his near-namesake  accompanied only by colleague Freddie Hearndon and a dim gas-lamp.

Through the darkness it could be made out that glass remained in the windows of deserted shops, including seafood-merchants and confectioners.

He said: "We were council workers and just doing what council workers do. There were water pipes and other things we needed to check out.
 
"We had heard about it [the underground street] and went as far as we could go."



Neville Williams on Nevill Street today

Norman revealed he had entered Nevill Street Bridge's remains via a steel gate at the rear of Southport Pier.

Mesh barriers and a metal door now seal off that entrance, accessed from steps by Silcock's Funland.
Norman's account of witnessing inside the subway was corroborated by Michael Mullan corr, a former council worker who lives in Bath Street.

Michael was working at Southport's outdoor swimming pool when he was led underground by municipal bathing engineer John Turner.

He told of accompanying John through a door in the basement of the Promenade's Victoria Baths  which now houses Victoria Leisure.

"All I remember were cobbled stones and glass-fronted shops," said the 52-year-old.
"At the time it was impressive  I had never even been aware it existed."

A mysterious table and chairs marked the account of James Mullinder corr, who entered a large cavity beneath Nevill Street and the Promenade while working for North West Water in the 1980s.

A digger operated by James's crew shattered one of the glass coverings that were then a feature of the pavement where the streets met.

Using a ladder to climb under the street, the Heathfield Road resident said: "I remember one of the rungs breaking and thinking 'I shouldn't do this.'"

James said he found himself in a vestibule-like space  "about the size of a living room"  featuring white bricking and the unexplained furniture set.

"The table and chairs might still be there," he added.



The Albion Restaurant can be seen clearly on the approach to the subway, which also gave access to the vaults of the Victoria Hotel

SOUTHPORT people from publicans to retired former shopworkers have spoken of their desire to see the riddle of the town's hidden road solved once and for all.

Trevor Ford said the mystery had been "brought to life" for him when he took on the licence of Leo's Bar on Nevill Street a year ago.

"I was quite excited to think about this tunnel existing," said Mr Ford, who has been researching the possibility his cellar had once been occupied by a newsagents



A blocked-up former shop window in the cellar of Leo's Bar in Nevill Street

Experiences of coming close to the remains of Nevill Street Bridge were shared by those who had carried out work in the area.

Ray Jones said in the 1960s he was an apprentice on a painting job at the then Victoria Baths.

 On breaks, the Park Road West resident joined colleagues in the Promenade venue's basement  which housed a large, empty sandstone bath.

"That would have been on the same level as the underground street, and only a few yards away from it," said Ray.

Martin Lowe now runs his own company, Peach Developments of Birkdale, but 15 years ago he was working on some of Nevill Street's retail and leisure properties.

Proprietors told Martin of the tunnels they believed led beyond their basements  which had themselves been the shops of Nevill Street Bridge.

The entry route to the hidden subway, believed to lie behind Southport Pier, was referred to by both former council employee John Settle from Ainsdale and Donald Fitton, 85, of Churchtown.

Mr Fitton said his father-in-law told him the space behind the iron gate was where deckchairs were stored at the height of Southport's bucket-and-spade days.

Further insights into the history of the Nevill Street Bridge businesses were provided by Jenny Hazard (corr) of Gordon Avenue and Alice Eaton of Lord Street.

Mrs Hazard, 78, said she had worked in the Nevill Street rock shop of Jack Holland as a teenager, who told her of a tunnel running all the way underground from the beach to Chapel Street.

Horses that worked the cockling trade were led from the beach, through the tunnels and to stables in Chapel Street, she was told.

Alice Eaton said her grand mother, Melinda Eaton, had owned a Nevill Street store selling meat and other groceries until the 1940s, and had talked to her about the legacy of the underground street.

And, truly remarkable, was the account of 88-year-old Roland Ive of Norwood Road, who said that as a four-year-old in 1923 he had visited the submerged street.

At least four children's rides then occupied the space, said Mr Ive, with the attractions later transferred to Pleasureland.



Nevill Street Bridge, believed to have been built between 1824 and 1834, led directly onto Southport beach

TWO prominent Southport figures believe the resurrection of Nevill Street's hidden level would be a huge boon for the resort.

But both Phil King and Bryan Naylor told the Visiter they doubted whether such a dream could be brought to reality.

Mr King said he had received "frequent enquiries" about the possibility of excavating Nevill Street Bridge when he was employed as chief tourism and attractions officer for Sefton Council.

The Churchtown resident turned to Sefton's then-director of engineering, Doug Turner, who had "endeavoured to go and have a look down there".

"He told me then that the whole area was collapsed and that there were so many utilities pipes down there that it would be an extremely hard job to resurrect," said Mr King.

Despite those doubts, he added: "It would be great to see something like that resurrected  Southport is full of little delights like that."

Bryan Naylor, spokesman for the Southport Party, said: "To re-open it would be a nice feature.

"Two-thirds of all tourism in Britain is looking at our history and people from overseas are fascinated by it.

"But I wonder whether [re-opening Nevill Street Bridge] would have any practicality, due to the modern services that have gone in."

A spokesman for Sefton Council said: "The council does not have access to any underground section and there are no plans to re-open it."



Nevill Street Bridge oyster merchants, now covered, underneath Victoria Leisure
 

No entry point to Southport's submerged street from town centre arcade Mar 19 2008

by Robert Alcock, Midweek Visiter
 
A LINE of enquiry in the bid to explore Southport's buried underground street has come up against a brick wall.

The management of Silcock's Funland has moved to dispel rumours that an entry point to the remains of Nevill Street's submerged lower level lies on their property.

Bosses at the amusement centre insist that any access once possible via the old Pier Pavilion was sealed off with Funland's construction in the 1970s.

Promotions manager Justin Prescott told the Midweek Visiter: "We know there's nothing under Funland's floor as it is solid concrete."

Earlier this year the Visiter told the story of Neville Williams, who as a teenage council apprentice ventured "a good 150 to 200 yards" down the darkened remains of the subway that was filled in by Southport Corporation in 1903.

Now 72, Neville revealed he had entered what was known as Nevill Street Bridge via doors at the rear of Southport Pier. However, no through-route exists beyond those doors today, as the Visiter was shown by Mr Prescott.

The space now houses Funland's workshop and scrap storage area, with any access points to the subway believed to have been blocked off during Funland's construction in the 1970s  when it was known as The Golden Goose.

Today, the large double doors Neville Williams passed through are still present in the workshop, along with the white tiles and fan area of what was once the Pier toilets.

Yet while being on the same level as the buried subway, solid walls ensure no route exists beyond the workshop area, which was once used to store the pier's deckchairs.

Mr Prescott, 36, who has worked at Funland since he was 17, added: "People may remember these doors as being open.

"People have got memories, but we are talking about prior to the 1970s.

"If there had been such a such a fantastic historical area we would have opened it as a tourist attraction."

Neville Williams, a Kensington Road resident, said that during his exploration of the lower-level street he made out by gas-light that glass remained in the windows of deserted shops.

He told the Midweek Visiter: "We were council workers and just doing what council workers do.

"There were water pipes and other things we needed to check out.

"We had heard about it [the underground street] and went as far as we could go."

Last month the Southport Visiter exclusively reported that industrial archeology specialists Subterranea Britannica has turned its attention to trying to uncover the remains of Nevill Street Bridge.

NEVILL STREET 4 YEARS AGO..........


WITH A 1893 O.S. MAP OVERLAY........




The doors are that people mention are NO WHERE NEAR where the subway emerged onto the beach...there way to far back and off line to the left......The shops would have been further back still as they ended before the enerence to the tunnel.......

As can be seen it started near the West Street corner of the Victoria Hotel. (It didn't go as far as Lord Street).

Dotted lines show pavements (and paths)


Origenal artists plan..........

The Pier and Subway in 1880.

The origenal iron footbridge over Nevill Street,which dated from 1839,was replaced by the wider bridge seen here when the pier was constructed in 1860.

It allowed carrages to pass uninterrupted along both the Northern and Southern stretches of the Promonade.

Entry to the vaults and luncheon bar of the Victoria Hotel was gained from the subway leading to the sands.

This view shows the enlarged enterence to the Pier which was constructed in 1864.

In front of it is the enterence to the tunnel which ran under the Promomade Bridge from Nevill Street to the sands.

1869.
The beach enterence to the Promonade tunnel.

The building above is the first Victoria Baths opened in 1839.

In 1903 the Subway to the beach was filled in and in 1912 the statue of Queen Victoria was moved from the Municipal Gardens to its present position over the site of the tunnel.

1863.

Here you can see the steps the lead down to the subway and Victoria Hotel vaults.

On the far right can be seen where the tunnel emerged next to the pier.

Also "The Sands"...where the miniture golf and bowling greens are..(Now)

Note how Marine lake had yet to be constructed and was the sea at the time.

A section from the "Southport-Centenery Year 1892." print.

Here can clearly be seen the position and size of the Subway.