Titan (cave)

Titan
Derbyshire
Speedwell Cavern; the initial access to Titan
Location:	Castleton
	SK139818
Co-ordinates:	53°20’0"N, 1°47’36"W
Depth:	464 feet
Length:	11 miles

Titan is a natural cavern near Castleton in the Derbyshire Peak District, and is the deepest shaft of any known cave in the United Kingdom, at 464 feet.

The existence of Titan was revealed in November 2006, following its discovery on 1 January 1999 after cavers discovered connections from the James Hall Over Engine Mine to both Speedwell Cavern and the Devil's Arse (otherwise known as 'Peak Cavern'). Previously, the deepest known underground shaft in Britain had been Gaping Gill beneath the slopes of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales.

Dave Nixon, nicknamed Moose, and guru of a group of Peak District cavers, discovered the shaft after finding an account by an 18th-century academic, James Plumptre, in a university library. Initial explorations in the James Hall Over Engine Mine led to the discovery of a large shaft named Leviathan, before further excavations revealed the existence of Titan.

Discovery

The Devil's Arse, which also provides access to Titan

Eventually a miners' workplace was discovered, leading to Leviathan—a huge natural shaft altered by mining operations, 260 feet deep in total. Many relics from the mining operations were discovered there still in situ as the miners left them.

The team spent three years removing another huge fall of boulders before finally gaining entry to Speedwell Cavern at the Boulder Piles. Another huge blockage at the foot of Leviathan was excavated in an operation requiring the building of a railway, and eventually the dig led into the Far Sump extension of the Devil's Arse. This section of cave was previously only accessible either by diving Peak Cavern's Far Sump or by way of Speedwell Cavern with very difficult caving.

Moose and his team later went to this area of the Devil's Arse by way of the James Hall mine and arrived at the underside of an enormous boulder choke just a few metres from the upstream end of Far Sump. The group subsequently discovered a way up through the massive boulder pile and arrived at the foot of Titan. The echoes from their shouts and noise from the waterfall indicated a huge shaft, but their lamps showed what appeared to be the top about 200 feet above them—The Event Horizon.

This proved to be only a narrowing to a large ledge and the shaft continued soaring upwards into the darkness. A six-day climb led to the domed roof with no way on, but a passage from the west some 65 feet further down is believed to be the source of the stream that helped to form this massive cavern.

Blocked by a huge hanging boulder choke, the West Passage could not be explored as the choke was too dangerous to enter in its exposed position — around 400 feet above the floor. A n access shaft 150 feet deep excavated from the surface took over four years to dig and now gives access to a bedding-plane passage entering the main shaft near the top of Titan. Digging continues in an attempt to extend the system in other directions. The total length of the cave system exceeds eleven miles.

Outside links

• Titan Photos