OH! Yetion its interesting allright. Ive irritated a couple of local historians about this.
There seems to be an urgency about "capping" tunnels soon after they have been exposed. Talking to local people from Normanton who used to play in Newland (not Heath), they confirm they had played in a tunnel which stretched to Wakefield.
Preventing access to these dates back to the reign of Elizabeth 1, and deeds maintained in Leeds register of deeds office confirm the Crown would only give back to the people of Niormanton what was above the ground.
In 1995 or 1996 after the vatican proclaimed there should never have been accusation of herecy against the Templars, the tunnels in Wakefield were blocked (and apparently dynamite was used!)
In 1996 also, there were deeds sold by secret auction at Sothebys in London, and on condition that the articles be taken directly from this country. I have every reason to believe these deeds were taken from the Newland estate
Now, it gets interesting here because my intuition led me to believe there should have been a tunnel into Wakefield from Newland, but received wisdom is that the technology to build such a tunnel didnt exist in the 14th C.
Such a tunnel would have to go under the river Calder!
If I was right I knew it would most probably surface near the Cathedral and it would be special in its design; The men who would have built such a structure were skilled artisans disciplined in their work. Any such tunnel would have superb integrity.
I have discovered such a tunnel was exposed adjacent to the old Vicarage car park in 2004, it led to the Free Mason Hall across the road, but more interestingly it also headed off toward the Cathedral under the burial ground. I have spoken to two people who were down there before it was "Capped", and they confirm there was intricate masonry, beautiful woodwork and a large room down there.
I then discovered the original Wakefield church and vicarage were funded by tithes collected by the Templars.
Formal communication exists between the Bishop of Wakefield asking the Templars not to ferry peeps from Normanton and Castleford over the river because they were causing problems. My belief is they found a way round this. I believe this because they would have used tunnels to transport money safely, and also there was significant trade which they would have wanted (needed) to secure.
Now. This is information that should be placed in the public domain, and if you could possibly describe some of the tunnels around Ponty you are familiar with it would possibly help me with detail I have struggled with.