The Tunnels of Hertford

By John Barber

Knights Templar of Hertford still meet in underground chambers connected by a secret network of tunnels. Two brothers described their existence in an exclusive interview for the local newspaper: ‘a largely unknown, indeed mostly secret, ancient underground network that stretches beneath the town’s main streets’. This second edition contains more research to uncover the real secret of Hertford’s tunnels.
This interview was published on 8th October 2004 in the Hertfordshire Mercury. Hertford became the centre of media attention. Reporters and film crews from around the world descended on the small county town to film and comment on this network of underground tunnels. They were disappointed. They were met by rebuffs from town officials, historians and community groups and the tunnels were never photographed or indeed explored.
The evidence for and against the existence of the Hertford tunnels is set in this book and the history of Knights Templar and modern day Freemasons in Hertford. It contains a short history of the town from the days when it was a Norman stronghold; and doubles as a tourist guide for anyone wanting to spend a day amongst its historic pubs, modern bars and restaurants.
This second and revised version includes new research material, extra photos and two completely new chapters. One covers the persecution and eradication of the Knights Templar in Great Britain. The other offers a final solution as to the origin, the building and the reason for the disappearance of the tunnel network.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Barber
• Release date: Jun 28, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465923257

John Barber

John Barber was born in London at the height of the UK Post War baby boom. The Education Act of 1944 saw great changes in the way the nation was taught; the main one being that all children stayed at school until the age of 15 (later increased to 16). For the first time working class children were able to reach higher levels of academic study and the opportunity to gain further educational qualifications at University.This explosion in education brought forth a new aspirational middle class; others remained true to their working class roots. The author belongs somewhere between the two. Many of the author’s main characters have their genesis in this educational revolution. Their dialogue though idiosyncratic can normally be understood but like all working class speech it is liberally sprinkled with strange boyhood phrases and a passing nod to cockney rhyming slang.John Barber’s novels are set in fictional English towns where sexual intrigue and political in-fighting is rife beneath a pleasant, small town veneer of respectability.They fall within the cozy, traditional British detective sections of mystery fiction.He has been writing professionally since 1996 when he began to contribute articles to magazines on social and local history. His first published book in 2002 was a non-fiction work entitled The Camden Town Murder which investigated a famous murder mystery of 1907 and names the killer. This is still available in softback and as an ebook, although not available from SmashwordsJohn Barber had careers in Advertising, International Banking and the Wine Industry before becoming Town Centre Manager in his home town of Hertford. He is now retired and lives with his wife and two cats on an island in the middle of Hertford and spends his time between local community projects and writing further novels.

Book preview

The Tunnels of Hertford

By John Barber

Copyright 2011 John Barber

Revised Edition published January 2013

Table of Contents

Preface – the authors introduction to the mystery

Introduction – the genesis of the mystery in the local paper

Hertford Castle – a short history from Saxon times to the present day

Bayley Hall – or Bailey Hall

Shire Hall – market centre, assizes and court

Bluecoats Yard – Christs Hospital School

Fore Street – the alternative High Street

The tunnels at Hertford Castle – the ice house and the dungeons

The tunnel network at Bayley Hall – where it all began

Tunnels and ghosts in Fore Street – a haunted history

The Knights Templar, the Holy Grail and Freemasons – in Hertford

The truth at last? – are the tunnels just a myth

The tunnels give up their secrets – a modern expose on an old theme

The Knights Templar in Great Britain – the end of the Order

In conclusion- the final word

Bibliography

Preface

I still have an unfulfilled ambition to walk through the labyrinth of tunnels said to stretch beneath Hertford and its main buildings. This essay is the background to this wish. It is a story of discovery – of uncovering facts and myths surrounding the secret locations of underground passages and chambers where it is believed modern day descendants of the Knights Templar still meet.

Hertford is the county town of Hertfordshire. It is a small, market town with a population of about 32,000 souls which is slowly increasing as house building continues.

It was founded in Saxon times on the banks of the River Lea. After the Norman invasion and occupation it became a favourite place for Kings and Queens to escape the stress of London and enjoy the tranquillity of the countryside, right up until the reign of Queen Elizabeth 1.

There has never any attempt to cover up the imprisonment of six members of the Knights Templar in Hertford Castle from14th February to12th June 1308. What has been disputed is the existence and location of any of their supposed treasure; and the possibility that the Holy Grail itself may have been hidden within the tunnels under Hertford.

Very few people in Hertford had any knowledge of the Order, their persecution or of their connection with Hertford, of being driven underground (some say literally) or of their continuing modern day presence and involvement in modern conspiracies and secret societies until the publication of the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

I would count myself among that number until with so many others, read about the mystery in the local paper – the Hertfordshire Mercury.

I have lived in Hertford since 1980 and was Town Centre Manager from 2002 until 2009. I have been actively involved in the civic and social life of the town since 2001 and have had many articles published on the history of Hertford and surrounding area.

The article of October 8th 2004 was written by Raymond Brown. He had met with Tim Acheson who claimed to be a descendant of the Knights Templar and a member of the Illuminati; and from that the belief in the existence of secret passages and secret societies in Hertford flourished until it became almost an accepted fact.

The J D Wetherspoon pub chain named their new Hertford pub the Six Templars in reaction to these claims, encouraged so it is believed by Tim and his twin brother Ben. It was built on the outer walls of Hertford Castle by the entrance gates after many years of planning problems.

In 2010 Tim Acheson sent me an email with a story attached from a regional newspaper claiming that the stones used to form the entrance to the castle when it was rebuilt came from the site of King Arthur’s Camelot!

In the years following 2004 the debate over the Knights Templar continued to occupy the letters page of the Mercury and local community internet forums. In 2007 with a colleague from East Herts Council I launched Hidden Hertford, a project to promote the county town to a wider audience.

The aim was probably in the title. As an ancient town with some buildings dating to the Sixteen and Seventeenth centuries there was much to see in the town centre which was easily missed by the casual visitor.

We needed a hook on which to publicise the campaign and hit upon the Knights Templar and the tunnels. Royston, a similar town to Hertford and about thirty miles to the north had also made much of their connection.

I did not want to claim