Francis Proctor has spent 30 years hand-digging the caves using spades and shovels
The house appears to be ordinary from the outside(Image: SWNS)
Hiding beneath an ordinary-looking house is what can only be described as a labyrinth of caves. From the outside, Francis Proctor’s property in Southport appears perfectly ordinary to those passing by.
But underneath it conceals a realm of tunnels and caverns that Francis, 76, has been hand-digging and carving for the last 30 years.
The self-confessed ‘eccentric’ has spent decades forming a labyrinth of underground caves 20 foot beneath the garden of his home.
Retired photographer Francis has now finished the DIY project which he admits began with a daft notion. The entire network was hand-crafted by him using spades and shovels.
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“When we bought the house more than 50 years ago, I wanted to have an underground room that I could travel down to from the garden,” said Francis.
“It was pretty silly, but I got the idea from the Blue John Cavern in Derbyshire.”
The caves are set 20 foot below his home(Image: SWNS)
His vision ignited three decades of labour in a location that some believed would make it an impossible undertaking.
The property stands on sand dunes near Ainsdale Beach, so the notion of constructing caverns beneath the garden seemed inconceivable.
But Francis’ late wife Barbara, a mathematician and statistician, had different thoughts.
Francis said: “If you dig into sand, you can imagine what would happen – it would just collapse in on itself, so you’d think it would be almost impossible to build caves here.
“But the reason we were able to do it was because we underpinned the side of the house when we built an extension.
“Barbara looked at the plans and said it was quite straightforward. Under her direction, she explained what we needed to do.”
It has taken 30 years to build(Image: SWNS)
The couple’s meticulous calculations paid off as they gradually dug deeper, creating a 20ft deep cavern beneath their garden.
Their garden is far from ordinary. It boasts caves, a bridge, a waterfall, and an array of quirky features collected from around the globe, including a skeleton prop from a Hollywood film set in the US.
The highlight, however, is the cavern itself, adorned with tunnels that seem to whisk visitors away to another realm.
Francis built it as “something to do” in his spare time, but it has since become a popular tourist attraction. Registered under the National Garden Scheme, it regularly opens its doors to the public, attracting visitors from across the UK.
“People always say they just can’t believe what they’re seeing. A lot of professional gardeners have come along to have a look too,” Francis shared.
The garden was featured on Channel 4’s Amazing Spaces, where presenter George Clarke applauded Francis’ vision.
The caves hide beneath Francis’ garden
Now, the garden serves as a tribute to Barbara, who passed away four years ago. A plaque reading “Barbara’s Garden” marks the entrance, crafted by the same artisans who made her gravestone.
A historic foundation stone anchors the site, one that Francis personally sourced and dedicated in her memory.
The stone, originally placed at Southport Hospital in 1922 by the Earl of Derby, was unveiled a century later in Francis’ back garden as a tribute to the woman who ‘made the impossible possible.’
Despite the surge of interest, Francis insisted that he never intended to impress the public. He stated: “We had no intention of building this for anyone else’s benefit, it was just something I worked on in my spare time with the help of others.
“It was something to do that I enjoyed. It was a surprise when people started taking a lot of interest in it, and now more and more people are coming to see it.
“We wouldn’t have been able to do any of this if it weren’t for the fact that Barbara worked out how we could dig into the sand. It was because of her knowledge.”
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