Guesthouse & Tea Rooms
"Ocean Villas"
The farmhouse was first built in chalk and brick on this site in the late 17th century the cellar was used as a larder.
Graffiti found on the walls and artifacts found in the floor in recent years have helped to establish the history of the cellar. The French military took over the village in 1914 and the owner remained in the property which was believed not to have been used by the army. This was considered a relatively quiet sector of the Western Front.
In July, 1915, when the British took over responsibility for this part of the line, they ordered all of the residents of Auchonvillers away from the danger of the front lines. The British Army then utilised all of the approximately 140 cellars of the village.
10, Rue Delattre became a stretcher bearers' post and probably remained so, but half was also used as a detention room for the 36th Division, subsequently becoming a dressing station on 1st July, 1916.
In 1917 the fighting moved away from the village when the Germans retreated to the Hindenburg Line, about 22 miles away. The cellar was then used for ammunition storage.
1918 saw the German Spring Offensive being stopped here by the 2nd Division and the New Zealand Division, bringing the cellar back into use, this time as a signallers' post.
After the Armistice, the villagers began to return to the destroyed village and in 1923, this house was rebuilt over the original cellar. It was used for the growing of mushrooms! It is the only cellar to have survived intact in Auchonvillers.
The cellar was rediscovered in 1992 when Avril Williams bought the property on 1st July that year. Artifacts found in the floor of the cellar can be seen displayed in the Tea Rooms. Pamphlet available for self guided tour.