Williamson's Tunnels: one closes in December, one stays free

Under Edge Hill there is a maze of tunnels, vaults and chambers that a wealthy merchant called Joseph Williamson had dug in the early 1800s, and nobody knows for certain why. Two separate charities let you go down into different parts of it, a few minutes' walk apart, and that has always confused visitors. Now it matters more, because one of them is closing. We checked both organisations' own websites on 2 November 2026.

The one that's closing

The Williamson Tunnels Heritage Centre is run by the Joseph Williamson Society in the Old Stableyard on Smithdown Lane, the place the brown road signs point to. Its trustees have announced that it will close to the public at the end of opening hours on Sunday 20 December 2026, because the costs of a new lease are more than the society can carry. A fundraiser saved it in 2025, raising more than £23,000 in a week, but the society says it has now reached the end of the road.

Until then it is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Tours run on the hour from 10.30am to 3.30pm and last about 45 minutes, with an exhibition about Williamson, a cafe and toilets on site. Adults are £5, children £3, concessions £4 and a family ticket is £15, paid by cash, cheque or card. Every tour has to be booked by phone on 0151 709 6868, between 10am and 3pm on the days it is open, so ring on a Friday for the weekend. Parking at the Stableyard is limited.

The tunnels are not suitable for wheelchair users, so wheelchair users go free and can use the cafe, exhibition and toilets. The centre says anyone who can manage the stairs in a normal house can usually do the tour, which moves slowly. Guide dogs are welcome.

The one that's staying, and free

The Friends of Williamson's Tunnels is a different charity, working on a different part of the network on Mason Street, and it is not affected by the closure. Its volunteers cleared tonnes of rubble from the Paddington chambers, and the tour goes four storeys down to the deepest, 12 metres high and 18 metres below the street, with finds from the dig on display along the way.

Tours are on Wednesdays and Sundays at 11am and 12.30pm; the 2pm slot does not run from 1 November to 1 March. The Paddington tour is free, with donations welcome, takes about an hour and a half, and has room for at most ten people, so book by email to visits@williamsontunnels.com or with the form on its website, giving a first and second choice. Hard hats are provided. Members can also do the extended tour of Williamson's house site and the Banqueting Hall, and you can join on the day.

Do both on a Sunday

Sunday is the one day both are open, and they are close enough to walk between. Book the Heritage Centre's 10.30am tour by phone on the Friday before, then the Friends' 12.30pm tour by email. You are out of Smithdown Lane by about 11.15am, which leaves time for a drink and the short walk round to Mason Street. With the Friends' tour taking an hour and a half, you are done by about 2pm, having seen two quite different parts of the same mystery.

Which suits which child

These are listening tours, and the guides do a lot of storytelling. The Heritage Centre's 45 minutes suits most children from about seven, and keen younger ones who like a mystery. The Friends' tour is twice as long and goes much deeper, with plenty of steps, so it is better for children who are happy to walk and listen for an hour and a half; reviews from families with children aged five to twelve are glowing, but under fives will struggle. At both, closed sturdy shoes are a must, and it is cooler underground than you expect.

Don't end up at the wrong one

The brown tourist signs for Williamson's Tunnels lead to the Heritage Centre on Smithdown Lane, not to Mason Street. If you have booked with the Friends, follow the postcode L7 3EW and look for the brick front of Williamson's old house, opposite number 39 Mason Street, with the dig site behind it. Plenty of visitors have waited at the wrong site.

If the closure changes

The Heritage Centre was saved once before by public donations. If anything changes before 20 December, we will update this guide and the listing straight away.

The FamDays verdict

If you have always meant to go, go before 20 December, and make a Sunday of it: the Heritage Centre at 10.30am, then the Friends' free tour round the corner at 12.30pm. And if you miss the deadline, the deepest and most dramatic part of the tunnels is staying open, for nothing.