T C Hine and the Park Tunnel

The tunnel which links Derby Road to the aptly named Tunnel Road is one of the Park's most unusual and distinctive features. Its origins may go back to proposals made by the architect Peter Frederick Robinson for the area's development in 1827.

Work on the tunnel was completed in May 1855, under the supervision of the architect Thomas Chambers Hine (1813-1899). Hine had been appointed as the duke's surveyor, with particular responsibility for the development of the Park as a residential estate in 1854.

His influence on the Park is still evident on all sides - he designed the general layout of the roads and many individual houses. His approval of all other house plans ensured a high degree of control over building standards and maintained a consistency of architectural vision.

The tunnel never fulfilled its expectations as a main thoroughfare into the Park. Development of other roads on the periphery of the Newcastle estate provided several more convenient routes, and the necessity for a tunnel had vanished almost before its completion.