PAST CRIMESarmed men, although some brave souls tried, and in some cases lost their lives
doing so.
Gangs, sometimes of several hundred men and women, with‘tubmen’who
carried the barrels and packages, accompanied by guards, would move the
contraband off the beach as quickly as they could to waiting ponies and horses
to start the trek inland. Many hiding places were used to conceal contraband–
caves, dunes, and tunnels were used, such as the one at Hayle in Cornwall
which ran for several hundred yards and can still be seen. Tightly sealed
barrels could be submerged with a floating marker or in a known location for
later recovery. Other hiding places included table tombs in churchyards, like
those of Chale and Niton, and the belfry of Freshwater church on the Isle of
Wight. In the village of Brighstone, southwest of Newport, a number of
houses have carvings scratched into the chalk walls, depicting sailing ships
and other symbols (Figure 30). Local legend says these indicated safe houses
where smugglers could offload their goods.
The roads and lanes used to bring contraband up from the south coast were
dotted with farmhouses and cottages with secret cellars, and some towns were
notorious as centres for the collection and distribution of smuggled silk and
tobacco, brandy and lace, with the locals actively protecting the smugglers
from the revenue men. Dorking’s caves were probably used to hide goods
Figure 30. Graffito on a ship on a wall at Brighstone, Isle of Wight