Speedwell Cavern
Cave Derbyshire, England
About Speedwell Cavern
At the foot of Winnats Pass outside Castleton, Speedwell Cavern is accessed in a way unlike almost any other cave in England: by boat through a permanently flooded tunnel. After descending 105 steps, you board a small vessel that drifts along a narrow lead miners' adit carved out around 1771, funded by a group of Staffordshire investors who sank £14,000 into the project hoping to strike rich ore. They never did, and the mine was abandoned by 1790. The tunnel — now electrically powered rather than propelled by guides lying on their backs and pushing off the roof — opens at the far end into the Bottomless Pit, a large limestone chamber with stalactites, stalagmites, fluorspar veins, and an underground lake fed by a 20-metre waterfall. The shaft itself was choked by mining spoil centuries ago. A connection to Titan, the UK's largest natural shaft at over 141 metres, was discovered in 2006. It's open year-round, with reduced hours in winter.
Location & details
- Category
- Cave
- Region
- Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom
- Coordinates
- 53.34141, -1.79207
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