Ley Tunnel - The Origins of Secret Passage Myths

The Origins of Secret Passage Myths

Underground structures have a fascination due to their being hidden from view and their contents, purpose, extent and destinations remaining unknown. Over the centuries many underground structures have been discovered by chance, ranging from Cornish Fogous, souterrains that are possibly Pictish, Roman and medieval sewers to smuggling tunnels, escape tunnels, siege tunnels, and the like.

On occasion, possible tunnels prove to be of purely natural origin, such as at Cleeves Cove cave in Scotland, or Kents Cavern in England. The site at Cleeves Cove cave was previously known as the 'Elfhouse' or 'Elfhame', the locals at that time believing that elves had made it their abode.

Rarely, natural caves or tunnel systems can be of great extent; the cave system with the greatest total length of passage is Mammoth Cave (Kentucky, USA) at 591 kilometers (367 mi) in length, whilst the next most extensive known cave is Jewel Cave near Custer, South Dakota, USA, at 225 kilometers (140 mi).

Some castles really did have escape tunnels, such as the short one located at Loudoun Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland, which leads from the old kitchens to a 'tunnel-like' bridge over the Hag Burn. Others examples were longer: the young king Edward III was imprisoned by Roger de Mortimer, 1st Earl of March at Nottingham Castle, and in 1330 a small group of armed supporters of Edward III made use of a long, winding secret passage which led directly into the castle, allowing them to surprise and capture Mortimer.

Other tunnels are products of an excessive desire for personal privacy, such as at Welbeck Abbey and Brownlow Castle. Another tunnel allowed for the supposed free and secret movement of monks, abbots and other ecclesiastics who may have had cause to keep a low profile for fear of attack or abusive treatment during periods of unrest or persecution. Smugglers at times avoided the excise man by making use of drains, sewers or water supply conduits, although in a few cases they seem to have constructed tunnels for the purpose of smuggling.

Bruce Walker, an expert on Scottish vernacular architecture, has suggested that the relatively numerous and usually long-ruined ice houses on country estates may have led to Scotland's many tunnel legends. The appearance of ice house entrance could have prompted the unitiated to make such deductions since ice houses are often inconspicuously located in such places as ha-ha walls, house and stable basements, woodland banks, and open fields.

Many legends are associated with the actual and supposed activities of the Knights Templar and they are rich in stories about tunnels connecting the various properties that the order possessed up to the 12th century, when it was suppressed.

Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung and others had various psychological interpretations of the symbolic meanings of tunnels and these may have a part to play in the origins of tunnel myths.