A golf course sinkhole reveals a 19th-century wine cellar

A sinkhole has uncovered a 19th-century wine cellar beneath a golf course.

The deputy keeper of the green discovered the brick cellar on Monday morning at Davyhulme Park Golf Club, in Greater Manchester, underneath the 13th hole, known coincidentally as "the Cellars".

Steve Hopkins told The Telegraph that "a void opened up" as he worked to repair the hole, revealing a tunnel entrance into the cellar containing dozens of bottles of wine, champagne and port.

"I was walking back to the greenkeeping facilities and I noticed a small sinkhole on the 13th tee, which is not unusual, we just thought it was a collapsed drain," he said. "But as I started digging, this void just opened up."

Mr Hopkins used a digger to excavate the ground but came across a structure that turned out to be a brick doorway.

Davyhulme Park Golf Club

He explained: "I got my flashlight and checked it out, and it was a wine cellar."

The cellar previously belonged to Davyhulme Hall Manor House, which was demolished in 1888, and went undiscovered for years.

Footage revealed blackened, empty bottles lying among the bricks in the abandoned tunnel. A pile of debris covered what appeared to be another entrance way, which was boarded up.

He said: "I'm probably the first person to look into the wine cellar in over a century.

"We think they are wine and port bottles because they are all misshapen. They are not new bottles, so they must have been hand-blown."

Davyhulme Hall Manor House

The discovery of the cellar underneath the "Cellars" hole was a coincidence and "has nothing to do with the cellar found", Mr Hopkins added.

This is not the first time a sinkhole at Davyhulme Park Golf Club has led to a historical discovery.

Mr Hopkins said: "Two or three years ago we had the same issue on the second fairway. When we dug that out, we found a 30ft well, which we believe was where the Manor house's stables were."

The greenkeeper also believes there is an urn on the 11th fairway, where the old owner of the manor house's favourite race horse is buried.

Mr Hopkins also said the club's professional golfer and club secretary inspected the 19th-century structure "to their excitement".

What happens next

Jane Wilson, Davyhulme Park Golf Club's assistant secretary, said approximately 40 bottles of various colours had been found intact but none contained wine.

She said: "The bottle shapes suggest they once contained wine, champagne and port. Unfortunately, all of the bottles are open and empty and no labels have survived."

Charles Insley, a senior lecturer of history at the University of Manchester, said that "it is not impossible that people drank the bottles" when the manor was being demolished.

He said: "I wouldn't put it off the bounds of possibility that it was drunk."

He also suggested that the bottles of different colours and sizes could have been "built up over time to be reused".

A closer look

Dr Luciana Carvalho, from the University of Oxford's chemistry department, said the bottles were probably empty because their seals failed from being stuck underground for so long.

She said: "Even when a bottle remains sealed, cork is not a perfect barrier forever. Over decades, the cork itself and the cork-glass interface can allow slow gas exchange and tiny losses of liquid.

"Over time, that kind of slow leakage and evaporation could leave bottles apparently empty," she added.

Golf at Davyhulme dates back to 1844, when Robert Henry Norreys inherited the hall and estates. Both the men's and women's clubhouses are believed to have been established during the 1860s, making the club the fourth oldest in England.

But the entire property was demolished in 1888 when Davyhulme Hall was put up for sale and failed to find a buyer.

I was walking back to the greenkeeping facilities and I noticed a small sinkhole on the 13th tee, which is not unusual, we just thought it was a collapsed drain.

Putting it in context

The drinks business rewards patience. Recipes get refined quietly, formats get resized, and the label often changes long before anyone notices the liquid has.

The short version

A sinkhole has uncovered a 19th-century wine cellar beneath a golf course
"I was walking back to the greenkeeping facilities and I noticed a small sinkhole on the 13th tee
Mr Hopkins used a digger to excavate the ground but came across a structure that turned out to be a brick doorway
The cellar previously belonged to Davyhulme Hall Manor House, which was demolished in 1888, and went undiscovered for years
"We think they are wine and port bottles because they are all misshapen

Common questions

What should you know about Davyhulme Park Golf Club?