Engineer's Underground Labyrinth Sells for £375,000

A property in Tilehurst, Reading, with an extensive underground network of tunnels and rooms has been sold at auction for £375,000. The unique subterranean complex, spanning over 1,300 square feet and descending more than 15 meters below ground, was the result of a two-decade-long project by civil engineer Tony Deane.

Mr. Deane, who previously worked in the construction of airport infrastructure, began the excavation by hand in the 1980s and 1990s. He was later joined by his six children, with the family utilizing only buckets and wheelbarrows for the digging. The network includes a hand-built railway, a one-tonne goods lift, and two secret doors, one of which is a 1.5-ton sliding concrete wall. A hidden entrance to one room is concealed within a rocket structure near the property's swimming pool.

The Deane family's underground endeavors started even earlier, in the 1960s, with the construction of underground changing rooms for the swimming pool, accessed via a 23-foot rocket. The existence of the vast tunnel system remained largely unknown to neighbors and the wider community.

Richard Worrall, an auctioneer and consultant at BTG Eddisons Property Auctions, described the project as "utterly amazing and, I think, unique." He noted that most of the tunnels were dug through chalk, which is naturally self-supporting, with structural concrete used where necessary. "Incredibly, absolutely everything was excavated manually," Worrall stated.

The property itself includes a 2,500-square-foot workshop, parking, gardens, a swimming pool, and changing rooms. Planning permission had been granted by West Berkshire Council in December 2024 for a new five-bedroom house to be built on the site of the swimming pool, and for the conversion of the workshop into a three-bedroom house. Mr. Worrall suggested potential uses for the underground space could include secure storage, a fallout shelter, an EMP-resistant data center, or a prepper's paradise.

The sale price of £375,000 exceeded the guide price of £300,000-£325,000.