Escape to the seaside!
For sale, £1.25m house with tunnel used by a fleeing Henry VII
IT is the ultimate seaside getaway – a coastal townhouse with a hidden tunnel said to have been used by the future Henry VII more than 500 years ago.
The tunnel leads from the five- storey property’s garden down to the harbour at Tenby in Pembrokeshire.
A blue plaque on the wall of the house says: ‘It is said that Henry Tudor escaped through a tunnel at this site in 1471 when he fled to France.’ The reigning monarch, King Edward IV, wanted Henry captured or killed because he feared he would one day try to claim the throne.
The Grade II listed house is for sale for £1.25million, along with its
Victorian boathouse and tunnel. Estate agents John Francis said: ‘The property was built in the 1790s. However, some items do pre- date this and there are connections with Henry Tudor.
‘Built as a merchant’s residence, there are many original features including a dumb waiter, servant call whistles, cellars and a large balcony with amazing views. The large boathouse offers exciting redevelopment potential due to its harbourside position.’
The house has six bedrooms, and former servants’ quarters converted to large attic rooms, as well as terraced gardens and former changing rooms overlooking the harbour and bay. Henry Tudor’s relatives, distantly related to today’s Royal Family, had fought for the Lancastrians during the Wars of the Roses so he was a wanted figure in the reigns of Yorkist kings Edward IV and Richard III. In 1485 he returned from France with an army and defeated and killed Richard at Bosworth, founding the Tudor dynasty.