Frank Illingworth's tunnel at Pegwell
Bay is named after the man who explored it in 1938. He was convinced
that it was a smugglers' tunnel he had found, and his view was
certainly supported by his discovery of a pistol and three tunic
buttons.
The entrance today is a small opening some 8ft above the beach but it
is possible that the continual erosion of the cliff has destroyed the
original entrance, which could well have been at beach level.
The tunnel slopes upwards away from the beach into the cliff. It
passes underneath a shaft that is situated next to the site of a
demolished house. It is quite plausible that smuggled goods could be
moved from the beach, along the tunnel, up the shaft and into the
house.
One warning - if you are going to visit this tunnel, I do not
recommend you go in too far. It is very difficult to move once inside
and can be particularly dangerous. We only ventured some 200ft along
the tunnel but it became very difficult and cramped.
To see the full size
pictures, right click than click on go full size.