L’histoire de la Carrière Wellington
A SECRET MILITARY BASE 20 METRES BELOW GROUND
During the First World War, the British army discovered the extraordinary potential of Arras’ subsurface: a vast network of chalk quarry tunnels stretched out from the centre to the east of the town. Rediscover the history of the Wellington Quarry from the Middle Ages until present day.
The origins
A chalk quarry from as early as the 10th century
Dès le Xe siècle, des carrières sont exploitées dans les sous-sols de la ville d’Arras pour en extraire la craie nécessaire à la construction des remparts et des édifices religieux (et à partir du XVIe siècle pour les habitations). Les carrières sont exploitées jusqu’au XVIIIe siècle avant de tomber dans l’oubli.
L’exploitation
The role of the New Zealand Tunnelling Company during the First World War
In 1916, the British discovered the potential of these forgotten chalk quarries. In November of the same year, the Allies were mounting the 1917 spring offensive: a British diversionary attack in Artois, followed by a French attack at the Chemin des Dames. The British stroke of genius was to have the former chalk extraction tunnels below the town linked up to create a network of underground barracks which could accommodate up to 24,000 soldiers while waiting for the Battle of Arras to start. The mission was entrusted to the New Zealand Tunnelling Company who, in just 6 months, accomplished a feat that is considered as the greatest engineering achievement of the Great War.
In the 1990s, archaeologists unearthed a lost history
At the start of the 1990s, archaeologists from the town of Arras were exploring the calcareous stone extraction sites in the south east of the town when they discovered the history and the role these underground tunnels played during the First World War. The information they gleaned, particularly the thousands of British wall inscriptions, revealed the strategic role these tunnels played during the 1917 military offensive, exposing a veritable underground town, capable of accommodating up to 24,000 soldiers in total secrecy.
The Wellington Quarry is now a museum
Vingt ans à peine après les premières fouilles archéologiques, la carrière Wellington ouvre au public en 2008 : un circuit de visite guidé et audioguidé, à 20 mètres de profondeur accessible par un ascenseur. Ce site reconnu à l’international offre depuis novembre 2021 un nouveau centre d’interprétation et une nouvelle scénographie du parcours souterrain. Plus émouvante et plus immersive cette visite renouvelée vous plonge littéralement dans l’histoire de la Bataille d’Arras à la rencontre des soldats britanniques.
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