Round Hill Tunnel Portals (A20)

United Kingdom / England / Hawkinge /
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A20 passing into the Round Hill. Local legend claims that evil spirits and troubled souls inhabit Round Hill and this tunnel is blessed annually by the local parish priest in the name of St Christopher (patron saint of travellers). This was a stipulation of the enabling Act of Parliament which was passed to build the A20 extension from Folkestone to Dover. A perpetual HM Government exists to cover the parish priest's expenses. [Source: HM Treasury and HM Dept of Transport papers]

The A20 is also heavily mentioned in Ian Fleming's 1955 novel 'Moonraker' including a car chase between Sir Hugo Drax's Mercedes and James Bond's Bentley from London to Dover. See: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moonraker
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A20_road
Nearby cities:
Coordinates:   51°5'58"N   1°10'0"E

Comments

  • doubtful as i was about the story of the annual 'Tunnel blessing',especially since it would only need be done once anyways,(there is NO feas for St. Christopher on the Roman calendar), i can find no verification on this anywhere, including the catholic Priest in Ashford. Though one assumes an Anglican priest would have such a charge. any links/proves would be appreciated. pax
  • Having spent two years supervising the construction of said tunnel, can reassure that we did not encounter any evil spirits or troubled souls (well only of the usual human sort), with no recourse to holy men of any denomination, so think you can put that one down to myths and legends. The James Bond reference isn't any much better, as pre-dates the tunnel by 40 years!
  • Do you have a precise opening date for public use of the tunnel, please? Best I can find is '1993'.
This article was last modified 12 years ago