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Sarah Roy posted on Facebook: “My Mum used to work in the Golden Fleece, maybe 1950s. She always said there was a tunnel from there to the church. I’d love to go down there and look at the massive old cellar."

Dorothy Limb commented: “There are tunnels in the Golden Fleece. We were led to believe it was once the Monks walk.”

Shan Rossiter said: “I heard there was a tunnel from under the Crooked Spire to Trinity Church on Newbold Road.”

The discovery of a tunnel opening underneath the newly renovated The Hidden Knight pub in Chesterfield has triggered a wave of stories.

Kevin Oldfield posted: “As an Old Taptonian, I was always told there was a tunnel from the cellars of Tapton House to the Spire.”

And Nick Tither asked: “But what about the tunnels from Highfield Hall to the Eyre Chapel and to the Crooked Spire? It's a wonder the whole town hasn't collapsed into them.”

The latest examples were posted in response to an article published in the Derbyshire Times in which the chairman of Chesterfield and District Civic Society, eminent historian Philip Riden, dismissed the secret tunnels as a complete myth.

Alex Albus commented: “It's an interesting article about mining history and the landed gentry... but doesn't explain the countless tales of tunnels between the pubs and the spire. It’s local legend but given how many pubs we have and how many staff and tradespeople have been in the cellars over the years it seems a bit more than urban legend?”

Tunnels are believed to be underneath the Golden Fleece in Chesterfield town centre.

Brian Crossland countered: “Until I see conclusive evidence of one, not simply tales from pubs and folk who can't grasp that it isn't uncommon for old cellars to extend beyond the footprint of the building. I consider them a myth.”

Anne-Marie Knowles posted: “That not one tunnel has ever been discovered in Chesterfield in spite of excavation for archaeology, foundations for new buildings or roadworks, surely is evidence enough?”

MORE: https://www.derbyshiretimes.co.uk/news/people/watch-these-amazing-finds-by-a-chesterfield-town-centre-pub-manager-3548662

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Legendary secret tunnels of Chesterfield divide opinion on Facebook