Inside Wakefield’s secret underground tunnels - Westgate Unitarian Chapel's Catacombs

Asides from the infamous Westgate Run bar crawl, this area has a long history of being an area of trade, culture and worship.

And underground Westgate Unitarian’s Grade II* Listed Chapel lies spinetingling catacombs from 1752, where Yorkshire folk can visit to hear the fascinating stories of the ‘residents’ entombed within this gothic crypt.

What are Catacombs?

Catacombs are man-made underground tunnels for religious practice where people are buried.

Volunteer

tour guide Olivia Young said: “The ‘residents’ of the catacombs lived vibrant, politically, socially, economically and spiritually influential lives and left colourful footprints on the heritage and history of Wakefield.”

Historians Helga Fox and Sarah Cobham have been researching the history of the catacombs and discovered how the chapel is built mostly from slave money from The Heywood family. Generations of these enslavers are entombed within alongside Ministers and members of the congregation who went

on to directly influenced the anti-slavery movement, equal suffrage, the Chartist movement, and animal rights. The congregation at the time was largely wealthy and exerted their influence on politicians, writers, poets, and industrialists of the time.

All funds raised go to Chapel funds to enable conservation work both in the Catacombs and on the Chapel.