A HIDDEN underground ‘home’ complete with what appear to be the beginnings of mysterious tunnels has been found under an historic Stockton house.

The house under a house has been found underneath grade II-listed, 18th Century Gloucester House building in the town centre.

New owners of the elegant Church Road building knew there was what they thought to be a basement under the house which is undergoing a £1m refurbishment.

The Northern Echo: MYSTERY: Gloucester House on Church Street, Stockton where tunnels and secret rooms were found in the basement.

But when they lit it up they found a number of rooms, fireplaces, cavities for candles, wooden window frames and a series of what look like stalls which may have been for animals.

Most intriguingly were what look like the beginnings of tunnels. Owner Jeff Highfield, 49, believes one of what he thinks were ‘tunnels’ may have led towards the historic Green Dragon Yard, near to what was once the Stockton Castle where The Swallow Hotel now stands.

Another possible tunnel could have led to what was once the town’s police station or the old Baptist church.

Mr Highfield, 49, who is originally from the Roseworth area of Stockton, said: “It’s really close to the river it could have been used for smuggling at the time when Stockton was a port. It could have been that the people who lived here, who were seriously buckled (rich) just didn’t want to be seen above ground as they went to their church or whatever.

The Northern Echo: MYSTERY: Gloucester House on Church Street, Stockton where tunnels and secret rooms were found in the basement.

“We’re not going to do anything with it. It’s part of Stockton’s history and we’re going to leave it. But we’d love to know more.”

Mr Highfield said the underground rooms were once much closer to street level and they could have been used as servant’s living quarters. A cattle market once existed over road and that too could give a clue for what the hidden rooms were used for.

Chris Nimmo, sales director at Mr Highfield’s Reefstream business which owns Gloucester House and a neighbouring property, has read what limited history there is available about the terrace of Georgian houses once known as Paradise Row.

Mr Nimmo explained the houses were built by wealthy members of Stockton society and he has found the names of priests, lawyers and merchants who lived on the street in the mid to late 18th Century.

He said: “We’ve found drawings and maps but it’s really hard to find photographs. The earliest we have dates to 1940. A former mayor came in and he knew the stories of the tunnels. We’ll keep researching.”

During the industrial revolution many wealthy people moved out of town centre houses which required large numbers of servants.

By the turn of the 20th Century Gloucester House was being used as a hotel and at one point it was used by Stockton Borough Council’s planning department before its current conversion into high-tech offices.