Our Very Own Dugout

OUR VERY OWN DUGOUT

During the house renovations, we were curious as to 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 a lot of rubble, we were getting slightly despondent having found nothing when Buster, our black labrador, came for a nosey round, slipped on the edge of the excavation and uncovered the first of the wooden steps leading down to a German Dugout.

Furious digging continued for many, many months, during which time, we found more of the original wooden steps and various remnants of the german occupation.

We finally excavated all the infill from when the house was re-built following the war to find the dugout led to the farm next door, leading us to believe that it was an emergency exit from the cellar of the original house which occupied the same foot print as Guillemont House does today.

We have installed a glass viewing panel in the living room of the house to give guests an idea of the structure and depth of the dugout, we hope you will find this unique feature of the house as impressive as we do !