GUILLEMONT HALT
Down in the Cellar ....
................ we found our very own dugout and as far as we know, we are the only accommodation on the Somme with an original German built WW1 dugout within the property itself.
See the story of how we unearthed this unique feature below.
The Discovery
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During the house renovations, we were intrigued why there was a bridging arch at low level in the cellar.
This curiosity got the better of us and out came the shovels for a bit of investigative digging.
After a few days and lots of rubble, we were getting despondent having found
nothing when Buster, our black labrador, came for a nosey round, slipped on the
edge of the excavation works and uncovered the first of the wooden steps leading
down to a entrance/exit dug originally by German Troops.
Furious digging followed for many, many months, during which time, we found
more of the original wooden steps down and a few remnants of the german
occupation.
We finally excavated all the infill and found that the dugout led to our neighbour's
farm next door, which corroborated the theory that it was an emergency entrance/
exit from the cellar of the original house which occupied the same foot print as
Guillemont Halt does today.
We have installed a glass viewing panel in the living room floor which gives a perspective of the structure and depth of the dugout and we hope our guests staying at the house will find this unique feature as impressive as we do.
To see for yourselves, don't delay, enquire about a stay at Guillemont Halt .......
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