Factory Visits & Industry

The Victorian sewers beneath Brighton comprise an extensive network of brick-lined tunnels. They are open to the public on pre-booked guided tours and have become a popular tourist attraction.

Our famous sewer tours have been revealing their Victorian secrets to visitors for more than 50 years. The award-winning tours run from May until September and are a popular attraction with visitors from across the world.

Come and explore how the curious cogs and machinery of a fully operational watermill work in the grounds of Hardwick Hall.

For centuries, the water wheel at Stainsby Mill has ground flour for the Hall and the estate. The wheel is still turning today, fed by the adjoining Miller's pond. Find out more about this fascinating process at Stainsby Mill.

This working mill next to the Morden Stream is an atmospheric reminder of the recent past when corn was ground here for the local community. It’s believed that mills have worked in the Tamar valley since medieval times and this watermill dates back to the 19th century. The buildings surrounding the mill were used as stables, cowsheds, a hayloft and a ‘cherry house’ for storing cherries. The last of these buildings was added in the 1890s and they are now set up as a selection of estate and craft workshops.

Extending some 35km (22 miles), the man-made caves were constructed as an ancient lime and flint mine.

The caves at Chislehurst are a labyrinth of man made tunnels forming a maze covering over six hectares thirty metres below the woodlands above. They were dug for chalk used in lime burning and brick-making for the building of London, also for flints to fire the tinderboxes and flintlock guns of years ago.

First open to the public in the start of the 20th century as a showplace, the guides told the Victorian history of Druids, Romans and Saxons, smuggling and murder.