Tunnels

There are a network of caves and tunnels hidden beneath Beddington's streets.  One entrance to this underground system used to be visible just to the west of the Plough, a cave was exposed in the face of the bank, formed by cutting through the sandy slope when the lane was made.  There is a gradual descent from the mouth, and water is said to exist in a remote part of the cave, but it is not on record that the subterranean pool has ever been seen, or that the extremity of the long passage has ever been reached.  The system seems to be partly natural and partly man-made.  When the London Speliological Society examined the tunnels in 1940, they concluded that they had probably been the result of sand mining.

  The group's investigations led them to the nearby Queen Elizabeth's Walk, where a manhole cover concealed an entrance to the caves, but they could not obtain permission to enter and explore more fully.  The Chelsea Speliological Society also examined the system but not until 1968, by which time little trace of the mines remained.