The ordnance survey map of 1856, surveyed in 1853, just ater the railway was built, shows a tunnel under the railway gleading to an area to the south of a stream running west to east in a relatively straight line. Was this water course man made. Possibly.
The same map shows a path that goes across the railway to Barn Hill and then to Hutton Field House. This is approximately where the Avenue and The Voyager public house/restaurant are now.
The map also identifies the Brick Field to the south of the tunnel.
The ordnance survey map of 1895, surveyed in 1893, showed the footpath using the tunnel and the path over the railway not being used. This is more evident on the 25″ map compared with the 6″ map. The brick field is no longer marked but the site appears to be used a pheasentry (25″ map) The footpath no longer routes past Barn Hill but does continue to Hutton Field House. By this time the Avenue had been constructed as a drive to the new Hutton Hall. This was after Hoton Hall had been demolished and Hutton Hall had been built in its current location. Also the railway spur to Codhil mine was no longer in use becasue the mine ended production in circa 1867.
So what was the tunel for if it originally didn’t serve a purpose (unlikely) and didn’t act as a footpath?
More modern maps show a series of ponds along the line of the watercourse and LiDar indicate depressions to the north of the tunnel. Could this be the place where shale/clay was extracted for use in the manufacture of bricks in the Brick Field of 1853? This aslo suggests the Brick Field exsited prior to th building the Railway in 1851/52.
We know that Elizabeth Moon was the ‘Farmess’ living at Bousdale House in 1841 and that the property was later occupied by the Gamekeepers for the Hutton Estate.