There is documentary evidence, mostly in private diaries, for instance of the Earl of Malmesbury, that the gentry colluded in smuggling activities; Tregonwell's smuggling connections, however, remain entirely speculative. Underground rooms were often used as ice-houses, as the only available form of refrigeration; it is largely wishful thinking that links such structures with smuggling. When Bournemouth was mostly heathland, it was small gravelly hollows surrounded by gorse bushes which were most likely to be used as hiding places, as contraband made a swift journey inland.