Church House caves, Creswell

[NewStuff]

Can someone point me in the right direction for access, assuming there is any? I've been asked by someone to find out. I *think* it's the right forum.

 

[pwhole]

Do you mean Church Hole Cave in the gorge itself? If so, access is at weekends only, and is ?8 admission, as I went a few weeks ago. You do have to phone in advance to make sure they know you're coming:

http://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/

It's not very long, as the main carvings are in the light zone near the entrance, but the guide did let us have a walk right down the passage into the dark area where there are a few more small carvings, though you'll need your own torch, as there's no lighting.

 

[NewStuff]

I'll find out, but I typed it as I was asked it. It's the one with 10,00 year old drawings, so I suspect it *is* the one they were meaning. Own torches are not a problem, I can lend them some if it's a commercial cave.

Many thanks for the help, it explains why I couldn't find much if this is what they meant.

 

[pwhole]

I think they got two names mixed up, as Boat House Cave is on the same side of the gorge, but at the other end. They also sell a rather nice book in the Visitor Centre on the work that was done there:

https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/britains-oldest-art/

 

[NewStuff]

Yup, that's the one they were after. I'm in the area, and I'm happy they listen, so I'll see if we can go a little off the tourist route.

Are all the caves commercial? If not, I'll probably go and poke my head in them.


Many thanks, it's appreciated.

 

[pwhole]

Sadly, virtually everything is gated, and the two that have guided tours are separate - so you have to pay more to see them both - we only went in Church House, as it was eight quid. I thought that was a bit skanky, personally, but I guess they have to keep the place clean, and pay staff, etc. I did get the impression that it's possible to arrange visits into the other ones though. There's also some lovely exposed phreatic tubes at the west end on the north side, and we had fun slithering into the middle one and coming out of another higher up (out of shot). I actually felt like a big daft kid again - which is a good thing! To be honest, it's worth going just to walk around, which is free, as far as I can tell, as there's lots of cave remnants to look at everywhere - it's all unroofed phreatic, as far as I could tell, dipping to the east, with numerous vadose inlets running in at 90?.

 

[NewStuff]

Cheers for that, I'm sure we'll (meaning me) will go rummaging around in anything non-commercial and reachable.