A funny thing.

Secret Treacle mines of Sompting.

Picture Lambley's Lane, Sompting

by Charles Alfred Morris

I met a local man in 2011who told me a strange tale, at first I did not really believe this strange story, but curiosity got the better of me, he invited to take me to a secret location, in Lambleys Lane Sompting., it was here in a back garden there was a small door located in a mound at the bottom of the garden, it’s approximately 4ft high, ( 1.5 meters.)

With some effort my companion and i managed to open the door, in side with the aid of a torch I was able to view a tunnel sloping downwards, with some difficulty I was able with bent back crawl along the tunnel, I went in followed by my companion, we crawled for 50 meters, a surprising length, as we went along the tunnel I was aware that my shoes and hands were getting coated in a sticky compound, the smell was getting stronger, with slightly burnt smell.

The tunnel then gave way to a small cavern, high enough to stand up in, a relieve.

The area seemed to light up easily with our powerful torches, the walls were glistening with a black slightly runny substance, the smell now was very strong, my companion suggest I tasted this sticky substance must admit I was a little apprehensive, but tried a little  it was very bitter, but not unpleasant.

What is this substance running out of the rock?, my companion said treacle !, he told me that millions of years ago, trees were laid down , over a period of millions of years this turned into what we know as coal.

This substance is similar, but not so hard, softer; it is the residue of the sap of the Birch tree, the sap is used to make Birch Sap Wine. Trees in parts of Sussex are to this day tapped for the sap, which once fermented makes a pleasant wine. If you cut just a little into the bark of this tree it bleeds a dark brown very sticky sap, which does in fact taste like treacle.

Thus this is tree sap, slightly sweet, black, and sticky, .

Now you know the origins of the treacle mines, it was mined and sold from Roman times till around the 1930s, at this time more and cheaper sugars were been grown in large quantities, thus making the mining redundant.

To respect the location of this mine, please do not try and explore the area, there is really nothing to see.