Treak Cliff Cavern

Treak Cliff Cavern
The Ram's Head and the Stork, features of the Dream Cave chamber, part of the 'New Series'
Map showing the location of Treak Cliff Cavern
Map showing the location of Treak Cliff Cavern
Location within Derbyshire
LocationCastleton, Derbyshire, England
OS gridSK136831
Coordinates53°20′42″N 1°47′50″W / 53.3451°N 1.7972°W / 53.3451; -1.7972
Length1,000 feet (300 m)[1]
Elevation950 feet (290 m)[1]
Discovery
  • 1745–50 (Old Series)
  • 1926 (New Series)[2]
GeologyCarboniferous limestone
Entrances2
Show cave opened1935[2]
LightingElectric
Features
Cave surveyTrevor D. Ford, 1954[3]
Websitebluejohnstone.com

Treak Cliff Cavern is a show cave near Castleton in Derbyshire, England. It is part of the Castleton Site of Special Scientific Interest[4] and one of only two sites where the ornamental mineral Blue John is still excavated (the other is the nearby Blue John Cavern).[5] As part of an agreement with English Nature, the Blue John that can be seen in the show cave is not mined but it is extracted in small quantities from other areas of the cave and made into saleable items like bowls, jewellery, and ornaments.[6]

The cave comprises two sections, the Old Series, discovered by lead miners in the 18th century, and the New Series, discovered during blasting in the 1920s. Only the Old Series contains Blue John, but the New Series is well decorated with flowstone, stalagmites, and stalactites. Three human skeletons and flint implements from the Neolithic era were found in a small cave nearby in 1921.[2]

  1. ^ a b Barker, Iain; Beck, John S. (2010). Caves of the Peak District (7th ed.). Derbyshire Caving Association. p. 133. ISBN 978-0956347329.
  2. ^ a b c Ford, Trevor D. (2013). Treak Cliff Cavern and the story of Blue John Stone. Treak Cliff Cavern.
  3. ^ Ford, Trevor D. (1954). "Treak Cliff Cavern Survey". Trans. Cave Research Group. 3 (2): 123–135.
  4. ^ "Citation for Castleton SSSI" (PDF). Natural England. Retrieved 12 January 2011.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ford was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "All about us". Treak Cliff Cavern. Retrieved 2 June 2014.