British engineer dug four-level tunnels under his home, now up for auction

From the outside, it looks like an ordinary bungalow tucked away on the outskirts of Reading. There is a garden, a swimming pool and a workshop, nothing to suggest that beneath the property lies a sprawling subterranean world that took two decades to create.

Descending more than 15 metres underground are four levels of hand-dug tunnels, complete with rooms, corridors, a railway, a one-tonne goods lift and secret entrances, adds an online report by AOL.

A family project underground

The extraordinary project was the work of British civil engineer Tony Deane, who began excavating beneath his family home in the 1980s. What started as a personal building project gradually grew into an underground complex covering more than 1,300 sq ft.

His six children eventually joined in, turning what might have been a solitary hobby into a remarkable family undertaking, adds the report.There was no fleet of construction machinery involved. The chalk and earth were removed manually, using little more than buckets and wheelbarrows. As the excavation expanded, Deane devised increasingly ingenious ways to move material through the tunnels. Eventually, he installed a railway running through the underground passages, allowing excavated material to be transported more efficiently, explains the report.

Four levels below ground

According to the AOL report, he also constructed a four-level goods lift capable of carrying up to one tonne, connecting the different sections of the subterranean complex. Much of the tunnel system was carved through chalk, a material naturally capable of supporting itself. Where additional reinforcement was necessary, concrete was cast by hand.The property's underground story actually predates the main excavation.

In the 1960s, Deane constructed changing rooms beneath the swimming pool. The entrance was concealed behind a striking 23ft rocket standing beside the pool—a feature that remains on the property and provides access to another hidden room, the report adds.

Secret doors and a giant rocket

According to the same report, other concealed spaces are scattered through the complex. One entrance is hidden behind a 1.5-tonne sliding concrete wall, while another lies inside the giant rocket.

For years, much of this elaborate underground construction remained known primarily to the family and was hidden beneath the property's workshop.

Now heading to auction

Now, the unusual home and its subterranean secrets are set to find a new owner. The property is being offered through BTG Eddisons Property Auctions with a guide price of between £300,000 and £325,000. Above ground, the estate includes a substantial three-storey workshop measuring around 2,500 sq ft, along with parking, gardens, a swimming pool and existing changing rooms.

Planning permission granted by West Berkshire Council in December 2024 also allows for a new 5,000-sq-ft, five-bedroom, two-storey house to be constructed on the site of the swimming pool.

The workshop has permission to be converted into a three-bedroom home.

A property with another life below

But it is what lies below that is likely to define the property's appeal. The tunnels could potentially serve as secure storage, a private shelter, specialist data infrastructure or simply an extraordinary personal retreat.

After decades hidden beneath an unassuming family property, the underground complex is finally coming into the open. It is scheduled to go under the hammer at BTG Eddisons' live-streamed auction on October 28 and 29, the report also adds.For a buyer, the appeal may be difficult to quantify. This is not simply a house with an unusual basement. It is the physical record of a family project that unfolded underground, one bucket of chalk at a time, until an ordinary Berkshire property acquired an extraordinary second life beneath the ground.Image Courtesy: AOL