Golf Course Sinkhole Was Really a Hidden Wine Cellar

Golfers in Greater Manchester have discovered a surprising 13th hole with a century-old secret. A small sinkhole near the tee at Davyhulme Park Golf Club wasn’t a collapsed drain as first thought—it turned out to be the entrance to a long-lost wine cellar, hidden for more than 100 years, according to the Guardian.

Deputy head greenskeeper Steve Hopkins says he squeezed through a low doorway revealed by the excavation and found himself in a brick-vaulted room filled with dusty, empty wine and port bottles. “I am the first person to go in that room for over 100 years,” Hopkins told the BBC. “They’re all odd shapes and stuff, so they’re obviously extremely old bottles. They all look like they’ve been hand-blown.”

The club shared a video tour of the cellar online.

Officials say the cellar once belonged to Davyhulme Hall, a country house dating back to the 12th century. The hall was demolished in the late 1800s after its owner, local landowner and sportsman Robert Henry “Squire Bob” Norreys, passed away and no buyer emerged. The golf club later purchased part of the estate in 1911, and its 13th hole has long been nicknamed “the Cellars,” suggesting the underground room was not completely forgotten.

For now, the club has sealed the space. “The bottles have been removed for safekeeping while we work out their next chapter,” the club said on Facebook. “Perhaps they’ll make a lovely display in the clubhouse—we’ll keep you posted!”

Original Source