A sinkhole at a golf course in Greater Manchester has revealed a hidden piece of Victorian history that had been buried for well over a century.
Deputy greenkeeper Steve Hopkins stumbled upon a 19th-century wine cellar on Monday morning while working at Davyhulme Park Golf Club.
The brick chamber was found beneath the 13th hole, which is coincidentally nicknamed “the Cellars.”
Mr Hopkins said “a void opened up” as he attempted to repair what he initially thought was just a collapsed drain.
Inside, he found a tunnel entrance containing dozens of bottles that once held wine, champagne and port.
Mr Hopkins explained that he was heading back to the greenkeeping facilities when he spotted a small sinkhole on the 13th tee.
“But as I started digging, this void just opened up,” he said.
Using a digger to excavate the area, he came across what turned out to be a brick doorway leading into the underground chamber.
A sinkhole at a popular golf course uncovered a Victorian wine cellar
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DAVYHULME PARK GOLF CLUB
“I got my flashlight and checked it out, and it was a wine cellar,” Mr Hopkins said.
He believed he was possibly the first person to peer inside the cellar in more than a hundred years.
The bottles themselves are misshapen, suggesting they were hand-blown rather than machine-made.
Jane Wilson, the club’s assistant secretary, confirmed that around 40 bottles of various colours were recovered intact from the cellar.
Deputy greenkeeper Steve Hopkins believed he was possibly the first person to peer inside the cellar in more than a hundred years
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DAVYHULME PARK GOLF CLUB
Unfortunately, every single one was empty, and no labels survived to identify what they once contained.
“The bottle shapes suggest they once contained wine, champagne and port,” Ms Wilson told The Telegraph.
Charles Insley, a senior lecturer of history at the University of Manchester, reckons it is entirely possible workers polished off the contents when the manor was being torn down.
Dr Luciana Carvalho from Oxford’s chemistry department offered another explanation: the cork seals simply failed over time, allowing the liquid to slowly evaporate.
‘The bottle shapes suggest they once contained wine, champagne and port’
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DAVYHULME PARK GOLF CLUB
The cellar once belonged to Davyhulme Hall Manor House, which was demolished in 1888 after failing to find a buyer at auction.
Golf at the site dates back to 1844, when Robert Henry Norreys inherited the hall and its estates, making it one of England’s oldest clubs.
This is not the first time the course has yielded historical surprises.
Mr Hopkins revealed that a similar sinkhole appeared on the second fairway two or three years ago, leading to the discovery of a 30ft well believed to have served the manor’s stables.
He also suspects an urn containing the former owner’s favourite racehorse lies buried beneath the 11th fairway.