Secret Richmond tunnel believed to be used by Squizzy Taylor

HIDDEN beneath the streets of Richmond is a recently revealed tunnel rumoured to have once helped Squizzy Taylor elude police.

A RECENTLY unearthed tunnel hidden under the streets of Richmond may have exposed how legendary Melbourne gangster, Joseph "Squizzy" Taylor, eluded police.

The discovery fits with rumours of secret tunnels, believed to be spread across the Richmond Hill, that helped the criminal kingpin escape police raids on his Goodwood St gambling den during the 1920s.

Buried beneath mud and rubbish and worse, the cellar below a disused factory had concealed the damp, claustrophobic passage for decades.

But as the owners of the factory/house at 11 Goodwood St, opposite Taylor's former gambling den, began preparing it for sale earlier this year the tunnel was revealed.

Edie McGregor, who has previously lived in the house on the same block as the factory, has heard her share of tales involving the property.

"The rumour is he (Squizzy) would go under the road, along the passage, and into the factory and then either go through the night cart run or jump the fence to Bridge Rd," Ms McGregor said.

Peter Healy a part owner whose grandfather built the factory and developed film there in the same era as the gangster saw the tunnel for the first time last weekend.

"He was a frequently seen person in the area ... he operated a gambling school on the premises opposite and apparently he used to have a 'cockatoo' (lookout) to watch for police raids against our fence," he said.

David Langdon from the Richmond and Burnley Historical society has heard similar rumours.

"Some have said that Squizzy Taylor used this (property) as an illegal gambling house, and had the tunnels for escape routes," he said.

Thick with cobwebs the tunnel now ends in a wall of bricks and cement added after the tunnels original creation.

The unusual property, which features a house, shop front and the factory on an 880 square metre block has been linked with Mr Healy's family for 115 years, but will be auctioned on December 14.

Hayden Reed, the Jellis Craig agent selling the property, said impressive views and the location would probably return a price of $2.5 million-plus from a developer or builder.

And that may add a further link between the old factory and the nearby gambling den.

Taylor's old two-up school across the road is now a block of units.