Century-Old Wine Cellar Discovered After Golf Course Sinkhole
One of the most amazing accidental discoveries occurred last week at a golf course in Manchester, England, after a sudden sinkhole.
A 12th Century Discovery
According to The Guardian, a wine cellar dating to the 12th century and the region of Henry II was discovered when a groundsman, Steve Hopkins, burrowed his way through the dirt and found the cellar that was once part of Davyhulme Hall, which was demolished in the 19th century and some two decades before Trafford's Davyhulme Park Golf Club was built.
The outlet reports that Hopkins believed that the sinkhole was caused by a collapsed drain. But upon a closer inspection, Hopkins discovered a subterranean brick vault. After making his way through, Hopkins discovered a wine cellar still filled with dozens of mostly empty bottles of wine.
An exciting discovery on the course today⛳
— Davyhulme Park Golf Club (@DavyhulmeGolf) February 27, 2026
Following the appearance of a sinkhole on the 13th hole, our greens team uncovered what appears to be an old cellar, believed to date back to the original manor house.
Over 100 years old and filled with historic wine and port bottles pic.twitter.com/0uBdyrW1Vp
"I am the first person to go in that room for over 100 years," he told The Guardian. "I was walking back to the green-keeping facilities when I noticed a small sinkhole on the 13th tee, which is not unusual. At the time, we just thought it was a collapsed drain. So, we're thinking it's just a drain that needs digging out and clearing and repairing but as we dug deeper and deeper it just opened underneath us."
It wasn't long before Hopkins decided to explore more of what was beneath the golf course on the 13th tee. He eventually found a doorway. He turned on his torch and made the rare discovery.
'The Cellars' hole
Remarkably, the 13th hole on the golf course is known as "the Cellars" because it had been known that that part of the golf course once was home to a wine cellar.
The Guardian reports that Robert Henry Norreys inherited the estate in 1844. He loved to play golf, so he built a nine-hole course on the property, which later became home to a golfing society at Davyhulme Hall, once the second-oldest in the world behind the famed St. Andrews in Scotland.
Following Norrey's death in 1887, Davyhulme Hall was listed for sale, but nobody came forward to buy it. The property was demolished, and the golf course was built in 1911.
As for the bottles found in the cellar, the golf course says stay tuned.