A home with an extensive underground tunnel system dug by hand over 20 years is now on sale for £300,000. The tunnels, spanning more than 1,300 square feet and reaching depths of 15 meters below ground, were created by Tony Deane, a civil engineer who started the project in the 1980s and '90s with help from his six children. The complex includes secret entrances, hidden rooms, and even a hand-built railway for moving excavated chalk.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
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same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
A unique home in Reading with a labyrinth of underground tunnels, dug manually over 20 years by civil engineer Tony Deane, is on sale for £300,000. The subterranean network spans more than 1,300 square feet, extending up to 15 meters below ground and includes tunnels, storage rooms, and even a hand-built railway. Notably, the complex features secret entrances disguised as a rocket by the pool and a 1-ton goods lift. Deane, who worked on aerodrome construction, began digging in the 1980s with help from his six children using only buckets and wheelbarrows. Auctioneer Richard Worrall of BTG Eddisons Property Auctions describes it as "utterly amazing" and unique among properties he has seen.
Written for “Underground Tunnel House For Sale” on 2026-10-07,
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A unique home sat on top of a labyrinth of underground tunnels which were dug, by hand, 15 meters below ground by the previous owner over 20 years has gone on the market for £300,000.
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which → sit → 300,000
Tony Deane, a civil engineer, spent two decades creating a subterranean network of rooms and corridors underneath his modest home in Reading.
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Deane → spend → Reading
The unique complex contains more than 1,300 square feet of underground space, including tunnels and storage rooms - and even a hand-built railway.
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complex → contain → tunnels
One room even features a secret entrance - hidden inside a rocket by the pool.
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room → feature → pool
Hidden for decades beneath a workshop in a suburb of Tilehurst in Reading, the network descends through four levels and reaches more than 15m below ground.
Tony, whose initial day job was in the construction of aerodrome and airport infrastructure, started the construction work by himself during the 1980s and '90s.
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job → hide → 1980s
He was also assisted by his six children.
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Incredibly, the only apparatus the family used to conduct the digging and move the chalk were buckets and wheelbarrows.
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family → use → chalk
The Reading property features underground tunnels dug by hand by the previous owner
The tunnels go 15m below ground, with the scale shown here in a 3D computer model
A rocket ship beside the pool conceals hidden changing rooms
The labyrinthine tunnels were largely unknown to Tony Deane's neighbours
Richard Worrall, auctioneer and consultant at BTG Eddisons Property Auctions, said: 'In all my years as an auctioneer, I've never seen anything like this before - it's utterly amazing and, I think, unique.
'
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I → feature → this
The Deane family's subterranean projects began even earlier, in the 1960s, with the construction of underground changing rooms next to the property's swimming pool.
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projects → begin → pool
The entrance was hidden behind a 23ft-high rocket, which is still in place today.
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which → hide → place
Despite the scale of the project, its existence is understood to have remained largely unknown outside the family, including to neighbours in the surrounding residential area.
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existence → understand → area
Richard Worrall said: 'Most of these tunnels were dug through chalk, which is naturally self-supporting, while, in some places, where required, structural concrete was used and cast by hand.
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concrete → say → hand
'Incredibly, absolutely everything was excavated manually.
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'Mr Deane also constructed a railway through the tunnels to transport the excavated chalk, as well as building a four-layer, one-tonne goods lift to carry it to ground level.
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It has now gone on the market for £300,000
The underground complex covering 1,300 sq ft
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A view out of the garden of the property - with no sign there would be underground tunnels
The site is accessed via a secure gated driveway and includes a 2,500 sq ft workshop arranged over three floors, parking, gardens, a large swimming pool and changing rooms.
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site → access → floors
Planning consent was granted by West Berkshire Council in December 2024 for a 5,000 sq ft, five-bedroom, two-storey house to be built on the site of the swimming pool, while conversion of the workshop has consent for conversion to a three-bedroom house.
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Richard added: 'The underground space is obviously a game changer to say the least and we believe it could offer an imaginative buyer a range of potential uses, anything from secure storage, a fallout shelter or an EMP-resistant data centre to a prepper's paradise.'
The property has a guide price of £300,000-£325,000 and will be included in BTG Eddisons Property Auctions' live stream auction in October.
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