STOURTON and GASPER HISTORY

‘There was a secret passage from Bonham to the Big House because as children we would climb through the laurels under the Stourton Road and make our way up to Bonham through the woods. I think there was also a priest’s hiding hole in the house itself …’ Theresa Geary (neé Robert)

‘In 1955/56, a friend of mine and I went down to Bonham on my scooter and they were altering the church. When we got there, they were pulling it to pieces and taking the porch down, they were building a wall up where the altar was and we went all around the place, around the house, down the cellars. Tom bumped his head, he’s over six foot, Tom is. I only had a little old box camera at the time. In the cellar next door to Bonham, there used to be arches and the arches were bricked up, the arch shape is still there, but needed a torch you see …’ John Humphreys

‘Underground passages, well now I can tell you a bit about that. I used to work for Lady and Sir Henry Hoare, I worked at the Mansion there and when I went along one of the passages, where us girls weren’t supposed to go - there were big long passages in this place - I went along there one day on my own and just as I was going to open this door, the old butler caught me. He said, “You’re not to go down there my girl, you mustn’t go down there”. So I said, “Why?” “Well” he said, “That’s where they used to go years and years ago when they used to have a carriage and horses, two horses and a carriage would go along there, but it’s blocked up”. I waited ‘till he went then I went down, but there was no lights so I couldn’t see anything much. I remember it used to come up at Bonham Farm …’ Kathleen Humphreys (neé Farthing)

From Rennie Hoare to John Stourton, 16 ^th May 1974

10th Nov 1973 Full Text

Dear Stourton

Thank you very much for your letter, and for your kind renewed invitation.

I would much like to come to lunch with you any of ...

Now about secret passages. We had an aerial photograph taken of Stourhead and its surroundings in 1955 but these show absolutely nothing as far as underground passages are concerned - perhaps becuase they are so old.

We have however had Dowsers at work and they claim to have found several underground passages leading eventually to the Church, and I will get hold of the information which they have left and give it to you when we meet...

Looking forward to meeting you

Yours Sincerely

Rennie Hoare

24th Nov 1973 Full Text

Dear Stourton

Thank you very much indeed for the excellent lunch you gave me on Thursday, and I greatly enjoyed our conversation.

... I do not think that much has been reported about what the Dowsers discovered ... and where particularly the Dowsers consider that the secret passages are.

I have not done anything more about aerial photographs. Gordon Robertson does not think any more have been taken since the ones we had done in 1965. Again many thanks for the lunch.

Yours Sincerely

Rennie Hoare

Editor's Note: It is unclear where the myth of the Bonham Tunnels started, but like the Loch Ness Monster the total lack of evidence does not prevent it persisting. They are supposed to run from Bonham to the Church, to Stourhead House or to Stourton House/Castle - wherever that may have been. At the Bonham end the "arches" or "prison cell" are in the cellar of the farmhouse, built around 1800. The cellar must be contemporaneous the building of the farmhouse, as the "prison cell" part is identical in design with a cellar at Gasper Mill built a year or two later, quite likely by the same builder.

The Church has a crypt, Stourhead has copious cellars. No doubt Stourton did have cellars, and would have had places to hide priests in the time of Catholic persecution. It is implausible that the huge undertaking of a tunnel would be made to allow people to flee to the second most obvious place for the authaurities to look for them. However if you wish to "climb through the laurels under the Stourton Road" just visit Stourhead Gardens and walk through the tunnel that leads up to the Temple of Apollo. From there you can "make [y]our way up to Bonham through the woods". Nick Hoare