A tunnel, an 18th century oak-panelled office, hidden rooms with barred windows - series of fascinating historical finds made at former menswear shop in Lincolnshire (IN PICTURES)

The discoveries have been made at the old A. Cheers & Sons Ltd shop, in South Street, Boston, by property developer Shane Gostelow.

Shane, 40, of Boston, took on the building last April.

Ahead of its closure shortly before last year’s handover, Cheers had traded from the site since the early 1900s.

However, the history of the building dates far beyond that – as illustrated by numerous finds Shane has made in the past 12 months.

These include:

• a tunnel beneath the property that is thought to lead to the Guildhall and perhaps also the riverbank.
• an oak-panelled and flock wallpaper-lined office on the first-floor, believed to date from the 18th century, that was previously hidden behind shop fittings, chipboard, plaster, more than half-a-dozen layers of wallpaper, and Hessian sack.
• two rooms with barred windows in them – one on the ground-floor, hidden behind a cupboard and laid with flagstone, the other on the first-floor sealed behind a wall.
• a large range on the ground-floor, too big for domestic use, hidden behind shelving, board and concrete blocks.
• part of a ship, reclaimed as a ceiling beam

Shane’s connection to the building goes back to his days at Boston Gramar School.

“I used to walk past it every day,” he said.

He said he was ‘curious’ about the building when it went on the market and then ‘fell in love’ with its ‘size, scale and potential history’.

At that time, his idea was to create a coffee shop or some kind of eatery on the ground floor. That plan remains in place; however, in light of the historical discoveries, Shane wants to open the space further so the community is able to appreciate the heritage on site, describing the building as a ‘historical asset’.

“ I want to share it with the Boston public,” he said.