jscott@thekmgroup.co.uk

An ambitious project is under way to reopen an ancient 800-year-old wine shop in Wye.

The medieval undercroft in Upper Bridge Street is believed to have been a store stocking wine imported from Bordeaux, France from the late 13th century.

Owner Patrick Keegan is hoping to open the grade-II listed cellar to the public and restoration works have been under way for the past 18 months.

His wife Catha had been the driving force behind the project, but sadly she died in 1998. The scheme has gained support and funding from English Heritage, the Sustainable Development Fund, Wye Historical Society and Wye Parish Council.

Planning agent Catherine Hughes said: “It was in reasonably good condition considering it was under a garden for so many years.

“There are lots of undercrofts in Winchelsea so it’s not unique but it’s certainly the oldest secular building in Wye.”

the history of the wye undercroft

it started life as a wine shop, opened in the late 13th century

the undercroft stocked a vintage of bordeaux wine called gascony red.

records show 736,000 gallons of wine was shipped to winchelsea, east sussex in the early 1300s.

it is thought some of this wine would have been transported to wye via tenterden.

it is not known when the wine store closed but an elizabethan house existed above it until 1875.

accessed by a spiral stair, the vaulted chamber is 17ft 10ins by 14ft 10ins, and features a central rose shaped roof boss and chalk. webbing

it is a scheduled monument, which means it has legal protection by english heritage and is considered to be of national importance.

once works are completed mr keegan hopes to import bordeaux wines including pomerol, st emillion and margaux.

The undercroft’s function as a wine cellar was not confirmed until the project’s architect Ptolemy Dean, who featured in BBC TV programmes Restoration and The Perfect Village, discovered broken bricks at the foot of the entrance steps in late October.

Canterbury Archaeologial Trust later confirmed the damaged brickwork was the result of huge barrels being rolled down the steps. The cellar would have stocked wine imported in 225 litre barrels known as 'barriques’, which would have weighed more than quarter of a tonne.

Stone masons have already restored the ceiling of the vaulted chamber, using chalk sourced from nearby Crundale.

The next stage of the project is to move the grade-II listed K6 red telephone box which currently blocks the entrance to the steps leading down to the undercroft.

Planning consent was granted in 1998 but permission lapsed and a new application was resubmitted on January 23. The proposal is to move the box a few metres down the street.

Mr Dean, who grew up in Wye, said: “The undercroft is a rare and important survival, particularly in the context of the history of Wye overall.

“While there are numerous timber framed houses in the village, Wye’s historic importance from the Middle Ages can be appreciated particularly in the quality of its surviving stone structures, notably the former Wye College and the parish church.

“The stone-vaulted undercroft, sited at the southern end of Church Street, is in direct sight line of the church, providing a tangible and visible sense of history that stitches this compact village together.”

Ashford Borough Council is expected to make a decision on the plans by March 19.