Sunbridge Wells
# Sunbridge Wells

Sunbridge Wells is a leisure and shopping facility and tourist attraction built in tunnels in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The centre was opened in 2016.

## History

The tunnels where the leisure and shopping facility is now was a quarry in the thirteenth century. It was also used as prison cells and during the Second World War was used as an air raid shelter. In the 1960s it was a location for dancing. This was when The Little Fat Black Pussycat nightclub was based there - it was owned by the wrestler Shirley Crabtree who was known as Big Daddy.

The unusual underground development involved the removal of hundreds of tonnes of rubble and it cost £1.9 million to develop and it includes bars and shops. It had originally had a budget of £1 million but this was nearly doubled when the internal area was increased to 24,000 square feet. The stairwells and corridors are decorated in a Victorian style with displays by the Bradford Museums and Art Galleries.

The leisure and shopping facility was opened after some delay by the parents of developer Graham Hall, on 9 December 2016. A further extension to Sunbridge Wells, the Rose and Crown craft beer pub, opened later, and a steak house is planned to open in 2017.

