Monument record BSE 102 - Jacqueline Close

Jacqueline Close Mines. Shafts and galleries located following development of site for housing in 1964 & subsequent partial collapse in 1968. Map sent (S1) & in (S2-S4).
1886: 1:500 map shows area of open land to north of existing chalk pit and lime kiln - BSE 103 - probably PMed and connected to lime production(?)
At the time of the evacuation of the housing it is said local people knew of the chalk workings underneath the site. 'A local man in his seventies recalled actually working in the chalk pits, using paraffin flare lamps and candles. The mines were last worked in 1913, he said, and pointed out a spot where the ground had once opened up and swallowed a horse. In 1955 Percy Cook, a plumber, was called in to mend a blocked lavatory at No.4 Willow Cottages. He investigated, then sent his assistant to pull the chain while he lifted a manhole cover. The result was somewhat unexpected. With a dull thump the loo, together with Percy's assistant, disappeared from view. All that was left was a 50-foot chasm…. Another hole appeared nearby at the appropriately named Chalk Road [BSE 287?] in 1979 - it was 15 feet wide at the mouth and 42 feet deep' (S5).
A further shaft opened up at the Hospital Laundry (during construction of the tall laundry chimney) when a dump truck partially collapsed into it (S6), suggesting site more extensive than already mapped..
For similar workings see Horringer 012, BSE 079,& BSE 171 & BSE 287.
Formerly recorded in HER as undated.
Update of HBSMR plotting (after S7), Dec 2012 (Colin Pendleton, early 2013)