Please be aware that this page contains very few actual 'facts'.
Here we are looking at rumour, legend and heresay.
There is no concrete proof for any of these stories, but I thought
it migh be fun to indulge for a moment in some of them. This page
will continue to develop and expand as more comes to light.
Last updated : 12/05/2021
1) Lower levels, hidden tunnels, secret areas.
There has always been talk that Drakelow had more than one level.
Perhaps as many as 5. There was rumour of another hidden entrance
on the other side of the valley. This would mean at least one
further level below the known one in order to pass below the valley
floor and arrive at this other entrance. In all of the years that
I studied this site, had unrestricted access to all areas and
showed thousands of visitors around we never found any solid physical
evidence that any lower levels existed.
The natural water table is approximately 40 feet below the known
floor level. Any tunnel dug through the sandstone below 40 feet
would fill with water and would be incredibly difficult, if not
impossible to keep dry enough to make it useable.
With the soft, crumbly nature of sandstone you would need significant
thickness between floors to maintain sufficient structural integrity
for them to be used for 'industrial' or military use. Therefore
I would be surprised if there was enough room for more than one
additional floor below the known level. The sandstone even at
that level is likely to still be very wet and crumbly. Over the
years we met and interviewed many people who workied on the construction,
or in the factory during the war years. No one had any knowledge
or information about lower levels, nor had they heard rumours
of such.
At the time of construction budgets were extreemly tight. Drakelow
was not the only site in the UK being prepared for war use and
there was a constant battle for funding. During the timeframe
that Drakelow was being built the demand for what it was to produce
was declining. In fact the factory is not as big as was originally
planned. Despite reducing the size, when complete they still had
surplus space so I find it incredibly unlikely that there would
be a whole lower level too.
As for a hidden entrance on the other side of the valley I know
the foundation for that rumour. There is indeed a structure on
the other side of the valley that could be taken to be an entrance
to Drakelow. I didn't see it in its heyday and I doubt any photos
exist, but it may well have resembled the entrances at Drakelow.
It is now well and truly sealed and hidden. However it is not
an entrance to Drakelow, but a valve chamber on the Elan Valley
to Birmingham aqueduct. Here a branch was added to enable a water
supply to be obtained for the factory. This supply was discontinued
for the RSG era, but was retained for fire fighting purposes.
In the event of a fire someone would have to go outside to the
field at the junction of Sladd Lane, Drakelow Lane and Kingsford
Lane where in a small fenced compound sat a valve marked with
a big letter 'A'. I remember the compound and its large 'A' sign,
sadly now gone.
A sign within the tunnels gave instructions.
Having said all that Interesting results cropped up on a couple
of occasions when we had visits from mediums.
In November 2008 Wiccan High Priestess Terri told us that she
felt that The War Dept were working on munitions in the tunnels
and developed things here. She felt that things may be found and
people hurt. There was someting to do with a chemical, or something
like a chemical. She believed that it was 'Heavy Water'. They
had been working on its development here. There were more levels
to the tunnels. They were constructed at the same time as the
factory. This is where it was done, in a laboratory a level below
where we were. This other level was well concealed, both physically
and historically. The only way it would be found is by ultrasound.
The entrance to it was 'furthest away from the road'. Earlier
in the visit a sensitive called Brian had also mentioned in a
conversation away from Terri, that he saw chemical research, heavy
water, laboratories and powerful weapons.
In February 2009 Mediums Marcus and Beth visited. As we approached
Tunnel 4 Marcus sensed that here were parts sealed off. In Tunnel
4 he again felt that there were places and paperwork sealed away.
He said that if it came out there would be massive uproar. He
then told us that he was being threatened about talking about
the secrecy. At the top of Tunnel 1 Beth felt that there were
other tunnels that were not accessible going all over. To Kinver,
to a pub, or big house. Beth felt that the hidden parts were really
well concealed, not just bricked off. They were disguised. She
got the feeling that there was something down too. Not below Tunnel
1 where we were but elsewhere in the complex. It was not as high
as Tunnel1 or Tunnel 4. She saw that one of them had a wooden
staircase. It was carved out of the sandstone. People were kept
away when this was done. Rooms. Squares. She saw much older pre
WW II tunnels, by the wells, castle, moat. The accesspoint was
not down here but outside. Outside and go down. The only way we
will find it is from outside. It pre dates the tunnels 1500's
-1600's. There was something to do with a church and graveyard
in Kinver*. "Go under the church floor"**. "Connected.
The Inn is also connected"***. "Still a pub today, or
the building still exists."
* One of the men Killed in an accident in Tunnel 1 is burried
at St Peters Church Kinver.
** Could this actually refer to the old Blakeshall Common School
which was later used as a chapel and was just outside between
the entrances to tunnels 2 and 3?
*** Just down Drakelow Lane was The Bay Horse pub. Now a private
home. Or there's the Kingsford Pub which used to be part of the
Hostel for the factory workers just down Sladd Lane.
On another occasion we were with a ghost hunting group who claim
to have video of a 'ghost' coming up from the floor in the area
next to the Millwrights foreman's office! That would make sense
if there was a lower level there, but I have no way to investigate
whether or not there's anything in that particular spot.
If you have ever studied the factory layout in Drakelow
Unearthed you will note the odd positioning of Adit D. It
sits on a 'dog leg' which is odd because it would be more logical
and surely easier to construct if it was simply in line with the
boundary of the underground area. There is speculation that the
area to the east of the complex could contain further hidden tunnels
that then line up with Adit D. The eastern end of tunnels 1 -
4, Second Avenue and the continuation of bays 81 and 82 could
potentially carry on a bit further east beyond the end walls that
are visible. Adit D could continue south at the dog leg to meet
these hidden tunnels. These would have to be very well concealed
in order to not be discovered. Unfortunately I think that this
is unlikely and we found no evidence to suggest this is the case.
In all likelyhood this odd arrangement occurred because all 8
tunnel entrances were constructed simoultaneously. During construction
the plans were revised to reduce the size of the factory as needs
had been revised. If Adit D had already been started, it makes
sense for it to be completed where it was and just meet First
Avenue.
Who knows what is true. If I find more I'll update this page.
2) Unknown Buildings
Around the outside of the complex are several external buildings.
The function of most of them is well known, however there are
a few who's purpose we were never able to determine. On the right
hand side of the dirt track that leads from near Adit D up towards
Blakeshall Hall there is a rectangular base of a building that
we could not find on any of the plans, or aerial shots. Looking
at the waste pipe holes in the floor it could well have been a
toilet block, but whether or not it had anything to do wih the
factory, or bunker we have no idea. Seems a strange location for
public toilets, but who knows.
Also in the vacinity of Adits C and D there are two pairs of
small brick 'huts'. Brick walls with concrete floors and roofs
and wooden doors. They look like they could have been guard posts,
but their positions are not consistent with any entrances, or
known routes. My other thought is that they were magazines for
the explosives and detonators or fuses used during the construction.
I don't recall their exact locations and I can't see them on the
aerial photo from 1948. Arguments against this function include
that they are quite small. Blasting operations during the construction
would have needed large quantities, but perhaps the stores were
small and numerous to minimise the impact if one was to go up.
There may have originally been several more of these around the
site (a) dispursing the risk and (b) so that supplies would have
not been too far away from the tunnel in which they were needed.
i.e. The pairs we saw may have only been for Adits C and D. Each
set has one square building, from memory probably only 4 - 5 feet
square, then close by a slightly larger, but similar building
maybe 8 feet square. My thoughts were that the smaller one would
be for fuses/detonators and the larger one for the explosives.
At the time of writing I don't know if these buildings are still
standing. I thought we had more photos of them, but these are
the only two that I can find at present. I seem to recall one
pair who's doors were facing each other, but I could be mistaken.
The ones below clearly don't.
![](../images/Unknown%20structure001.jpg)
![](../images/Unknown%20structure002.jpg)
3) A Murder!
Early on in my research in the mid 1990's I interviewed Della
Wooddisse who was the secretary to the chief engineer Mr Weiss
during the construction of the factory. She recalled that there
was often a lot of trouble between the labourers, regular fights
and even a murder.
In May 2009 during their second visit to the site mediums Marcus
and Beth came up with "Sombody was deliberately killed here
- shot through the head. Around 1942". Now I guess I'm stretching
things here a bit as we have never found any records of a murder
on the site, but in October 1941 the Kidderminster Times reported
that Mr James O'Donnell aged 48 was killed in an accident at the
Rifle Range. Conjecture only - Could Mr O'Donnell be the Drakelow
murder victim and the story of the rifle range accident be a cover
up? You don't want that much attention brought when you are trying
to build a factory in secret!
Who knows? If more comes to light I'll let you know.
4) Chemical/biological weapons research
Unlikely, but who knows. More to come on this subject soon................
5) Prisoner of War Camp
We found no actual record of this, but local recollections say
differently. Probably in the former construction workers hostel.
More on this to come soon...........
6) Storage of nuclear weapons
More on this to come soon............
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