Peter Ryder
New member
A trip to Lacy Caves are situated on the east bank of the River Eden, an easy mile or so of walk south from Dunraven Bridge, where the Glassonby to Kirkoswald road come close to the river. It is all a bit like a municipal park ? boards with non-slip wire mesh crossing boggy bits, substantial plank bridges over the tiniest rivulet, and even waymarking posts adorned with, oh dear, inlaid bronze red squirrels, which of course attract lots of healthy hikers. Nevertheless, a very pleasant place, especially this morning when the trees white with frost looked fantastic in the early sunlight.
Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Lacy of Salkeld Hall, had the caves cut in the 18th century, in an endeavour to make a picturesque landscape more so; this was one of his better ploys, as in another he sent men to blast the nearby Long Meg stone circle out of existence, but a violent storm convinced them of the old gods? wrath and they let it be. In his new caves Lacy is even said to have installed a hermit. The red sandstone outcrop jutting out into the river has been sculpted outside and in, so what looks like a building fa?ade with an apsidal projection houses a whole series of Gothic-arched entrances, which give access to four quite sizeable rectangular chambers, one with a smaller octagonal annexe set in the projection. The final (northernmost) chamber, reached by a slightly longer passage, has been equipped with a doorway and its opening out to the valley side seems to have had a window, being set between two arched recesses backed by ashlar walling; was this rather more elaborate room the hermit?s lodging? It could have been quite cosy. The chamber walls are criss-crossed by small quartz veins, now standing proud to show how much erosion has taken place since the first cutting. The walls are often covered with graffiti ? some of it quite old (one shield contains ?1706?; can this be genuine?) ? a study of this might be rewarding. Most of the chambers are around 3 m high, and there are signs of fitted benches in one. The place could certainly provide an acceptable (if rather draughty) night?s shelter, although there is a notice listing camping amongst other forbidden activities). Total passage length is probably around 30 m; the initial chambers have so many portals that they are well lit, but a lamp is helpful to examine the innermost sections.
The riverbank path climbs over the bluff above the caves, with an obvious branch down through an artificial cut to the main entrance, a side-by-side pair of arches. A footpath continues around the (artificial) ledge in front of the entrances, but is narrow and above a sheer drop into the Eden; the easier route is through the caves and out of the window of the final chamber where a short but easy scramble up through tree roots rejoins the main path above.
I love places like this. Excellent solo trip for a creaking geriatric with a heavy cold.
PFR 22 1 2011
Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Lacy of Salkeld Hall, had the caves cut in the 18th century, in an endeavour to make a picturesque landscape more so; this was one of his better ploys, as in another he sent men to blast the nearby Long Meg stone circle out of existence, but a violent storm convinced them of the old gods? wrath and they let it be. In his new caves Lacy is even said to have installed a hermit. The red sandstone outcrop jutting out into the river has been sculpted outside and in, so what looks like a building fa?ade with an apsidal projection houses a whole series of Gothic-arched entrances, which give access to four quite sizeable rectangular chambers, one with a smaller octagonal annexe set in the projection. The final (northernmost) chamber, reached by a slightly longer passage, has been equipped with a doorway and its opening out to the valley side seems to have had a window, being set between two arched recesses backed by ashlar walling; was this rather more elaborate room the hermit?s lodging? It could have been quite cosy. The chamber walls are criss-crossed by small quartz veins, now standing proud to show how much erosion has taken place since the first cutting. The walls are often covered with graffiti ? some of it quite old (one shield contains ?1706?; can this be genuine?) ? a study of this might be rewarding. Most of the chambers are around 3 m high, and there are signs of fitted benches in one. The place could certainly provide an acceptable (if rather draughty) night?s shelter, although there is a notice listing camping amongst other forbidden activities). Total passage length is probably around 30 m; the initial chambers have so many portals that they are well lit, but a lamp is helpful to examine the innermost sections.
The riverbank path climbs over the bluff above the caves, with an obvious branch down through an artificial cut to the main entrance, a side-by-side pair of arches. A footpath continues around the (artificial) ledge in front of the entrances, but is narrow and above a sheer drop into the Eden; the easier route is through the caves and out of the window of the final chamber where a short but easy scramble up through tree roots rejoins the main path above.
I love places like this. Excellent solo trip for a creaking geriatric with a heavy cold.
PFR 22 1 2011
