Poole's Cavern
| Poole's Cavern | |
| Derbyshire | |
|---|---|
 'The Flitch of Bacon' in Poole's Cavern | |
| SK049726 | |
| Co-ordinates: | 53°14’59"N, 1°55’33"W |
| Access: | Show cave |
| Geology: | Limestone |
Poole's Cavern or Poole's Hole is a natural limestone cave on the edge of Buxton in the Peak District, in Derbyshire, and which is opened as a show cave.
This is one of the 'Seven Wonders of the Peak', containing within its capacious belly fantistical shapes, chambers, channels and what the official guide has called a ‘phantasmagoria’ of rock formations ‘like an inspired meeting between Salvador Dali and Fred Flintstone’,
More than 980 feet of chambers are open to the public to gaze in wonder. Daniel Defoe was less impressed than today's visitors, called it 'another of the wonderless wonders of the Peak'.[1]
Poole's Cavern has been carved out over the aeons through the limestone by the streams of the Wye.
The cavern contains Derbyshire's largest stalactite. There are also unique 'poached egg' stalagmites. Amongst the formations are several with suitably descriptive names: the "Roman Chamber", the "Great Dome", the "Poached Egg Chamber" and the "Sculpture Chamber" and includes stactites and stalagmites with names such as Flitch of Bacon and Mary Queen of Scots' Pillar.
Geology and conservation
The cave is reckoned to be two million years old[2]
It lies within the limestone hill at the southern edge of Castleton, carved by the River Wye
The cavern has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.[3]
Legends
Various stories are connected with the cavern, such as that of a notorious local highwayman called Poole, who gives the cavern its name,[4] and who reputedly used the cave as a lair and a base to rob travellers in the fifteenth century.[5][6]
Human history
The name is said to derive from an outlaw, Poole, who reputedly used the cave as a lair and a base to rob travellers in the fifteenth century.[7] Archeological explorations in 1981 and 1983 have suggested that the cave was occupied from the Bronze Age. Some of the finds have been interpreted as suggesting that one of the chambers was used for religious purposes by Romano-Britons; an alternative explanation is that the cave was a metal-workers' workshop.[8]
Officially opened as a show cave in 1853 by William Cavendish, 6th Duke of Devonshire, the cave was already a tourist attraction, being listed as one of the Wonders of the Peake by Charles Cotton in 1683. Mary Queen of Scots is claimed to have been an early visitor. Under the management of the Duke's overseer, Frank Redfern, the entrance was widened and, in 1859, a system of gas lamps was installed to light the caverns (one of the earliest uses of gas in this context), which remained in use until the cave closed in 1965. It reopened in 1976.
Visiting
The region currently open to the public is around 1,000 feet in length, and includes chambers named the Roman Chamber, Great Dome, Poached Egg Chamber and Sculpture Chamber. Features of interest include large stalactites/stalagmites called the 'Flitch of Bacon' (a 6½ft long stalactite resembling half a pig hanging in a butcher’s shop) and Mary Queen of Scots' Pillar, as well as stalagmites with a porous texture and "poached egg" colour, which has been attributed to minerals leached from lime-burning on Grin Low above.[9] Part of the cavern is accessible to wheelchairs.
The cave system is believed to extend further, but has not been explored.[10] In 1998 a video camera lowered down a borehole revealed the existence of a further chamber, branded "Seventh Heaven".[11]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Poole's Cavern) |
References
- ↑ A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain
- ↑ "Geology". Poole's Cavern/Buxton Civic Association Limited. http://www.poolescavern.co.uk/take-a-peek/geology/. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Poole's Cavern and Grin Low Wood
- ↑ Oldham, T. "History of Poole's Cavern", Showcaves.com (2002)
- ↑ Richard J. Huggett Fundamentals of Geomorphology
- ↑ Oldham, T. (2002) History of Poole's Cavern
- ↑ Oldham, T. (2002) History of Poole's Cavern
- ↑ Myers A. An archaeological resource assessment of Roman Derbyshire. The East Midlands Archaeological Research Framework Project
- ↑ Ford, TD. Rocks & Scenery of the Peak District. Landmark Publishing, 2002
- ↑ Natural Curiosities of Derbyshire, in: The Every-day Book and Table Book; or, Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastimes, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs, and Events, Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-Five Days, in Past and Present Times; Forming a Complete History of the Year, Months, and Seasons, and a Perpetual Key to the Almanac, Including Accounts of the Weather, Rules for Health and Conduct, Remarkable and Important Anecdotes, Facts, and Notices, in Chronology, Antiquities, Topography, Biography, Natural History, Art, Science, and General Literature; Derived from the Most Authentic Sources, and Valuable Original Communication, with Poetical Elucidations, for Daily Use and Diversion. Vol III., ed. William Hone, (London: 1838) pp. 11–16. Retrieved on 24 June 2008.
- ↑ "Unexplored Chambers". Poole's Cavern/Buxton Civic Association Limited. http://www.poolescavern.co.uk/take-a-peek/unexplored-chambers/. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
| The Seven 'Wonders of the Peak' in Derbyshire |
|---|
|
Chatsworth House • Devil's Arse • Ebbing and Flowing Well • Eldon Hole • Mam Tor • Poole's Cavern • St Ann's Well |