On May 5th, Tom Stapleton gave a presentation entitled ‘The Tunnels of Edge Hill’.

The life of Joseph Williamson (1769-1840) included rising from poverty to becoming the millionaire owner of a successful company building houses and commercial buildings in Edge Hill, Liverpool. A secretive man, he built his own and other houses there, proceeded to extract stone from ever deeper beneath them, constructing numerous cellars and increasingly an amazing network of underground spaces supported by superb brickwork and stone arches.

He helped ease the poverty of locals during an economic slump by continuing to pay them for this skilled work that had no apparent other purpose. The charity that Tom represented has spent years re-discovering and clearing this vast network of tunnels, and publicizing Joseph Williamson’s amazing work.